Meeting Dolly
by Denell
Summary: In order to pass the grade, Alex needs to rack up credits by volunteering at Waverly Villa, a seniors home. Alex hate's old cheek pinchers, but then she meets Dolly. A lonely old woman. And then, she meets Dolly's grandson. Alex/Nate?
1. Chapter 1 : Meeting Dolly

**A/N: **This is either a two-shot or a three-shot. With optional epilogue. :) And don't worry, I've got the other chapters written. So .. I can't believe I'm doing this. Review Review Review!

**Inspiration: **I love seniors. My grandparent's died when I was younger so I never got to spend time with them. Whoever has grandparents are very blessed. I'll give you that.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters. Except maybe Dolly? I do own some Knitting Needles though, yes ..*blush* I knit.

**Meeting Dolly**

"Hey Mr. Larrytate, You wanted to talk to me or something?" Alex dropped her bag on the floor carelessly and swung herself onto the seat in front of her principals desk, resting her feet where arms would normally rest. She was used to this, his office was her second home.

Mr. Larrytate cleared his throat, glancing at her feet. She rolled her eyes and shifted so she was sitting somewhat properly.

"Alex Russo, you're currently failing which means you won't be able to advance with the rest of your class next year." He said sternly, fixing his bolo tie.

Alex's eyes widened. "Wait, what? I always barely pass _every_ year." She sat up on the edge of her seat, puzzled. She'd never actually failed before, well .. except Wizard School but that was different.

"You don't have enough credits to pass the term. You're passing every class but one. Currently, you're getting low passing marks in Math, Biology, History, PE, Chemistry , Home Economics, and Spanish." He passed his thick stack of papers over his desk to her.

"Wow."

"What?"

"Pfft, I never even knew I was taking these classes." She laughed, quickly scanning through each sheet. "So wait, which one class am I not passing?"

"Couples and Parental Guidance Class. Which is the class I teach."

Alex cocked her head slowly, confused. "I'm in that? Since when."

"Since you transferred in it last month for God know's what reason."

"So, can I do anything to help me pass? Projects maybe? I'm not all into failing, you know. I'm not very good at passing, but I don't wanna be surrounded by younger tools next year. What can I do?"

"Ah, good question dear." He stood up and waddled over to his filing cabinet, taking out a photocopied sheet. He slammed it onto the desk in front of her. "Volunteer Work. We're associated with a retirement home nearby. Waverly Villa Retirement Home. You rack up 40 hours there in the span of two weeks, and I'll pass you. All the information is on that sheet. Address, who to talk to, when to arrive. It's that or failure. Your choice."

Alex sighed before leaning back, folding her arms, and jutting out her jaw determinedly. "Sign me up for the oldies, Larrytate."

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Alex stared at her reflection in the huge clear glass window of Waverly Villa. She had chosen something somewhat conservative today. A long tee with an owl, a long black vest, dark blue skinnies, and moccasin boots. She spent absolutely no time on her hair, but it magically curled into innocent baby waves. She held her breath as she slowly pushed the glass door at the front open. Several seniors in chairs looked up at her, giving her gentle appraising smiles. She felt uneasy, it was like she was being examined, scrutinized. She found a middle aged blonde woman behind the counter. "Hey, I'm from Tribeca Prep. Mr. Larrytate sent me. I'm Alex. Can we get this over with?" She asked the last part with a bored uneasy tone.

"Oh, Hello Alex. I'm Geraldine. We have a system with our volunteers. We assign you somebody for the next ... ?" Geraldine's voice faded off into a question.

"Two weeks." Alex replied quickly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Okay. Two weeks then. So let's see who we have for you." Geraldine pulled some files from a cabinet labelled 'Volunteer'. She shifted through some papers, while Alex prayed she didn't get a drooling cheek-pincher. She hated that most in an old person, that's why her grandmother was so cool. She preferred wrestling to knitting. Geraldine hummed before she looked up from her papers. "You, my dear, get Louisa Miller. Sweet woman, but so lonely. She's on Level 9. Room 16."

Alex nodded, dumbly. "Ohkay?"

"So, the room will say 916, just tell her you're her new volunteer." Geraldine pointed to the elevator across the tile floor before sitting back down and setting her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

Alex shrugged but walked into the elevator, pressing 9. She heard a faint chuckle coming from beside her, and she slowly turned around, fearfully.

"Aren't you the cutest little thing!" A little lady with a walker and a bob of straight white hair cooed as she grabbed a good chunk of her cheek and squeezed it.

"Ha ha. Yeaa... Ow. Do you mind?" Alex glared before catching the lady's eyes filled with momentary sadness. "I mean, my cheeks are very sensitive. Could you please not pinch them?"

The lady beamed once again. "Sorry, dear. My name's Mildred. Family or Volunteer?"

Alex tilted her head. "Huh?"

Mildred rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Are you a family member of a resident or are you a student volunteer?"

"Oh. Volunteer." Alex dropped her head back and stared up at the ceiling. My, this was a long elevator ride.

"Who are you keeping company with, sweetie?" Mildred questioned curiously.

Alex sighed. She knew this woman didn't mean to be, but she was annoying. And too curious for her own good. What if Alex was a creepy rapist? What then, huh, granny? "Somebody named ... Louisa Milton or something? On Level 9."

"Oh. Louisa!" Mildred threw her arms up in the air, with plenty of flamboyant exaggeration. "What a sweet woman, she is. It's a pity though. She's always lonely. Never goes out to visit anyone either."

For the first time, Alex turned to look at her. With a completely straight and earnest unmocking face on. "Why?" What a pity it must be to be old and lonely ...

"Her family never visits. Off and about the world, I guess. Ohp, this is your floor. Go right, and tell Dolly I said Hi." The hunched over woman waved as the elevator doors began to shut. Leaving a confused Alex, wondering who the hell Dolly was. She studied the numbers nailed to the door.

913 ... 914 ... 915 ... Bingo. 916. She lifted her hand and paused before rapping on it roughly. No response from within. Alex rapped on it again. "Miss Milton? It's your volunteer." She heard a shuffling from behind the door, and waited for it to open. Nothing. Alex sighed as she turned, leaning her back to the door. She slid down till she was sitting there. "I know you're there Miss Milton. I have to pass this class and get my volunteer hours. Could you open the door?"

Another shuffle and the door flew open, causing Alex to fall on her back and face the ceiling. A head of curly white hair virtually popped out of nowhere and hovered over her. "My, you certainly make an entrance." The voice laughed with a cracky twang.

Alex blinked before she rolled over onto her knees, and lifted herself up, brushing her knees. She held out her hand to shake. "I'm Alex Russo. I'm going to be your 'companion' for a couple weeks. Companion makes me sound so uptight ..." Alex faded thoughtfully.

The woman gave her an amused smile. Her eyes twinkled with youth, hidden under her used exterior. She glanced down at Alex's hand before quickly turning and walking away. "I'm Dolly _Miller_. Not Milton." She disappeared down a short dark hallway.

Alex followed her into a dimly lit living space. She widened her eyes slightly. It was nicer than she expected. The room wasn't small, it was spacious, yet homey at the same time. A sofa and two armchairs were crowded around a gas fireplace, with a piano and dresser in the corner. A beautiful red pine table was off to the side, seperating the decent sized kitchen and the living room. The walls were red and yellow and speckled with black and white photographs of people. Blankets and pillows covered with flowery patterns were covering everywhere. Even on a grandfather by the side of the room. Dolly settled herself on one of the couches rather comfortably. And Alex awkwardly followed her sitting on an armchair beside her. She watched as Dolly leaned over and reached for something in a bag at the foot of the couch.

_Oh God, you have to be kidding me. Knitting Needles. _Dolly looked up and laughed at Alex's disgusted expression. She pulled her reading glasses from her pocket, rested them on the bridge of her nose and started. Alex watched the woman do her handiwork. Her expression was so determined and filled with passion, her eyes flickering a glow everytime the needles made the 'clack' sound as they united. Loop by loop, row by row, Alex watched. She studied Dolly's face. She wasn't that old that she was on life support. She had wrinkles, but her skin wasn't saggy. It still had a little glow. Her lips were full but pursed determinedly. And she had a head full of white curls. She looked like such a ... grandmother. "Can I get you anything?"

Alex snapped back to reality, realizing that Dolly was staring at her concerned. She had zoned out again. Alex shook her head, then slowly smirked. "Actually, yea. A letter saying how I was such a good companion so I can leave." Alex ended by pointing to the door.

Dolly's eyes widened at Alex's rudeness. Then she slowly smiled, with a hint of mischieviousness. "Ha ha. Nice try. How about a couple cookies and a glass of milk? Cause that's all you're going to get."

Alex gave her a concentrated glare. "Sure." She watched as Dolly slowly stood up and made her way to the kitchen. Alex followed her. _Just in case the old girl falls or something, Don't wanna get in trouble for that. _Dolly reached up and pulled open the cupboard door. She stood on her toes, reaching for a tin cookie can. Alex hopped up from a stool. "I can get that!"

"No! I can do it. I'm not incapacitated yet." Dolly huffed as she eventually pulled the tin can down. She reached for a small plate on a lower shelf and placed it on the counter. Taking out 4 cookies, she placed them carefully on the plate before setting the lid on the can. Dolly opened the fridge and took out the milk, she poured it carefully up to the brim before putting the carton back in the fridge.

"Thanks." Alex mumbled as she reached for a cookie and nibbled the end. Dolly stared at her quietly watching her movements for a minute before she made her way back to the couch. Alex sat there for a minute before standing up , juggling her plate and glass and made her way back to the arm chair gracefully. They sat in awkward silence as Dolly knitted and Alex nibbled.

"Hey, why do you knit anyways? Isn't it like the most boring thing in the world to do?" Alex questioned, taking a sip of milk.

"Well. Why do you watch TV?" Dolly replied, still focused on her knitting, nearing the end of her row.

"Idunno. It's entertaining, I guess." Alex shrugged nonchantedly, placing her glass back down on a coaster on the tea table.

Dolly hummed as she swiftly tied a knot and extracted her knitting needles. "Well, knitting is just like that. Except, at the end, you get something beautiful." She lifted her finished project slowly. A pale cream blanket dotted with beautiful yellow roses.

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"Bye Mom. I'm going to the Villa." Alex waved goodbye before she picked up her bag and ran out the door. 20 minutes later, she was almost jogging to the entrance of the Villa. She was almost late on her third day. She gave a smile of acknowledgement to Geraldine and hopped onto the elevator, breathing a sigh of relief that it was empty. She hummed and thumped her foot impatiently, till finally the elevator came to a stop and the doors open. She walked out and made her way to the familiar door. "Hey, Miss Miller. It's me, Alex. You know, your companion."

No response. Alex wasn't going to do this again. _I can say I tried. _Alex numbly stood up and began to shuffle away when she heard faint sniffing on the other side of the door. She frowned as she stepped closer pressing her ear to the hard wood catching some murmuring on the other side.

"Again? But Denise, you said you'd stop by. No ... I understand. Busy busy boys. No, dear. I'm okay ... Ha ha .. I've been spending a lot of time out. Don't worry. Lot's of friends. You have to go? Oh .. Okay. Bye dear. Send my love." And the beep of a phone followed by more sniffles.

Alex stood there, not knowing what to do. She paused before lifting her hand to tap on the door quietly. "Dolly? It's Alex." She whispered quietly, taking a chance that Dolly could hear. The door creaked open and Alex stood back not knowing what to expect. What she didn't expect was a cheery looking Dolly with a bright smile plastered on her face. "Hello Alex."

"Are you okay, Miss Miller?" Alex asked hesitantly before stepping into the lowly-lit hall, shutting the door softly behind her.

"Why wouldn't I be, dear? Come in." Dolly wandered into the living room and settled herself on the couch. Alex followed her, slightly confused as to what she'd heard before.

The oh-so-familiar knitting bag stood at the foot of the couch and Dolly leaned down to pick out her knitting needles. She was starting a new sweater.

"Hey, Miss Miller?"

"Call me Dolly." Dolly replied, pulling her glasses out of her pocket again.

"Could... Could I give knitting a go?" Alex asked hopefully.

Dolly slowly lifted her head, meeting Alex's eyes. They lit up. "Sure Dear, here sit beside me. I have an extra pair of needles." She patted the seat beside her on the couch and dug into her bag once more.

Alex nodded quietly, before standing up and making herself comfortable on the couch. She'd never sat there before. It was comfy... kind of like a cloud.

"Here you go." Dolly passed her two knitting needles and over the course of the hour, showed her step by step on how to do it.

Alex kind of found herself enjoying it. Odd. She was laughing at her product. A small dishcloth. She giggled and looked over at Dolly who had tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong, Dolly?"

"Nothing. You just remind me of someone." Dolly wiped away the tears and resumed her knitting, quietly.

Alex stared at her before questioning quietly. "Dolly, where are your family?" She pointed at the photographs on the walls. She had studied them earlier. They were family pictures filled with little boys, laughing young women, and sturdy young men.

Dolly looked up at Alex with eyes filled with sadness. No more glow in them, no more fight. "My daughter's grown up with her own family. She moved away and she's far too busy to visit. It's .. lonely sometimes."

Alex watched the older womans eyes start to moisten before she did something. Something Alex Russo would never do. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around Dolly's frame, patting her softly on the back. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm visiting. I care. And ... I'll come back."

Dolly rested her beautiful white locks on Alex's dark hair covered shoulder. "I know you are dear, I know you are."

**If you want more. Review please. :] I barely ask for reviews.**

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	2. Chapter 2 : You and I Collide

**A/N: **So, this is the second chapter. There's going to be three and a possible epilogue. So keep reviewing people. It keeps me happy.

**Inspiration:** Like, I said. I love seniors. I love volunteering at the seniors home. I lost my grandparents when I was younger, so I never got to have 'that' bond with them.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own WOWP, Alex Russo, any of the characters but maybe Dolly. I don't own Uggs, Young Hollywood, and Converse either. Oh, and I definetley don't own the beautiful song, 'Collide' by Howie Day. h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = I l z c V j z l f e I

**Oh, And thank you to the people that reviewed. Without you**

**this chapter wouldn't be up. So thank you.**

emveethroughthedoor, selgojbdemlorujmusic, Zialicious, Awesomenessest-girl,  
BethanyMusic, iamflyingmonkey, 711slurpeerocks, XDPurpleTiggersXD

**I also have a cover that I made for this. :] I was bored. Here it is.**

**It can also be found in my profile if the link doesn't work.**

h t t p : / / i 4 4 . t i n y p i c . c o m / x c p 0 r 4 . p n g 

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**You and I, Collide**

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Alex blinked, staring up at the ceiling. New York sunlight was pouring through the thickness of her blinds. She lay there for a moment staring at one spot for seemingly hours, before rolling herself off the bed into her comfortable Uggs. She moaned as the soft wool tickled the tips of her toes and bottoms of her feet. She sat on the edge of her bed and used her index finger, pointing at her closet. And then, in a low whisper. "Today I don't know what to wear, So give me something chill with flair."

Hangers magically floated out of the closet right in front of her. She surveyed her options before finding something to her liking. She topped it off with accessories, slid into dark grey converses, grabbed her shoulder bag and left the room.

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Alex pushed the glass door open, observing the same set of seniors smile at her. This time she gave them a wave and a curt little smile before walking into the elevator and pressing the familiar '9'. She recognized someone she'd met before. The woman from days ago, Mildred or something.

"Hey sweetie. " The woman gave her a toothy smile and reached for her cheeks, grabbing another huge chunk and squeezing it tightly, almost wrenching it off.

"OUCH. Didn't I tell you I had sensitive cheeks before?" Alex gently took her wrist and pulled it off, before bringing her other hand to rub her sore cheek.

Mildreds eyes narrowed curiously, she tiltled her head just so. "No, I don't remember you telling m e that. I don't even know your name. What is it, dear?"

Alex took a step back, absolutely confused. She had met Mildred days before, why didn't she know her. Alex knew herself pretty good enough to know that she was pretty damn unforgettable. She clutched the strap of her bag tightly with her right hand. "Don't you remember me?"

"I've never met you before in my life." Mildred stated, giving her a curious stare as if she were a complete lunatic.

Alex's eyes widened, as the thoughts processed in her mind. She didn't understand. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ding from the elevator and the opening of the doors, signalling her arrival on the ninth level. She waved once more and watched Mildred give her a small confused wrinkle of a smile as the elevators closed. Alex hummed, still thinking about the interaction with Mildred as she walked to the door, tapped twice and let herself in. It was their new system. Dolly had said, 'My door's always open for you, my home's always open for you.' She smiled as she heard the familiar clacking of needles.

"Alex?" Came the question, with an anticipating tone.

"Yup, it's me." Alex emerged from the dark hallway and waved before jumping onto the couch. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just knitting. The usual thing." Dolly smiled, not even looking up. Alex tried making out what she as knitting before Dolly pulled it away and hid it from her line of view. "Uh uh uh, you can't see it yet."

"Pfft, fine." Alex playfully rolled her eyes before she reached over for a pillow and hugged it tightly to her chest. "When can I see it?"

"When it's done." Came Dolly's mischievious reply, followed by a smirk. A bit of Alex had rubbed off on her. "Here, why don't you watch TV?" She pulled out a small remote out of the huge crevice in the couch.

"You have a TV?!" Alex's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly at the news. "So I've been watching you knit this whole time while you had a TV?"

"Yes." Dolly smirked at her once more before handed the remote to Alex. "It's in the dresser. Those cupboard doors hide it." Alex walked over before curiously pulling the knobs to reveal a decent sized black Television. She smiled as she made herself comfortable on the couch once more and pressed 'Power'. She flipped through the channels boredly. _Golf, Wrestling, Young and the Restless, Hannah Montana ... Young Hollywood..._ Her face lit up as Shia's face popped up onto the screen. "OMIGOSH, SHIA LEBEEF! He is totally hot!" She swooned as they showed clips of his new movie.

"Someone has a crush!" Dolly sang under her breath. "For me it was Cary Grant." She laughed, nudging Alex and reminiscing memories.

"Who?"

"Oh, nevermind. He was before your time." Dolly sighed as she glanced up at the screen just as 3 well-groomed boys appeared with dazzling smiles.

"Ew. Connect 3. Overexposed Overrated Old-dressing Teenybops." Alex's eyes narrowed into slits filled with repulse and contempt. She watched their too-perfect gestures, listening to their too-perfect answers on an red carpet interview, all clad in black tuxedos. "Anyone who listens to their junk is a brainless twit." Alex remarked, eyes still glued filled with disgust.

"You don't like them?" Dolly asked, clearly amused at Alex's pure hatred.

"Like them? I hate them. They're over rated and exploited. I swear every girl in my school thinks she'll marry one of them. Delusional freaks." Alex laughed as she turned off the TV, clearly bored. "Anyways, their lyrics are shallow. No meaning at all."

"If you say so." Dolly smiled. Alex stood up and wandered around the room, examining the pictures once again. She stopped at one, it had a small number of people in it. A younger version of Dolly and a man who stood beside her. A younger woman with curly hair, who was being held by a stout man with glasses. At the bottom were three boys. One was taller, he looked like a tween and he had short straight hair and almost identical glasses to Dolly. Another one, who had dark hair was making a monkey face at the camera. He had matching glasses as well. And the youngest child was clutching to Dolly's leg, peering curiously from behind, hiding his face with cute little ringlets. The hair must be genetic. Alex subconsciously let out a little giggle, and bit her lip realizing she had just done it out loud. He looked familiar. She stared once more and the adorable little boy before taking her rightful seat beside Dolly on the couch.

"Hey Dolly, Do you know Mildred?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." Dolly was still clearly focussing on her work.

"Well, I met her like a week ago. But when I saw her today, she didn't recognize me. She said she'd never seen me at all. It's was so weird, like X-Files weird." Alex finished with the Twilight Zone tune.

Dolly looked up sadly, taking her first break from knitting. She had pity in her eyes. "Mildred has alzheimers. Her memory fades on her a lot of times. It can't be helped or cured. She's still blessed to have her family visiting all the time though. She's a very sweet woman."

"Pfft,_ Your _family should be visiting you. They're missing out a lot, I must say. I'm surprised you don't have a huge line of visitors." Alex snorted, as she tucked her ear behind her hair, lifting her legs onto the couch.

"My families always busy. And truth be told, you're my only visitor." Dolly frowned, her eyes moistening at the thought of what was to come. "Haven't you finished more than three quarters of your 40 hours already anyways? Couple more days left... " Dolly tried hiding her disappointment.

"Dude .. I mean, Dolly. I'm always coming to visit. Expect me, like all the time. As in, new batch of cookies everyday." Alex smiled, winking at her. She absentmindedly scanned the room and her gaze rested on the piano. "Do you play?"

"I used to. Do you?" Dolly asked, following her gaze towards the piano.

"No, not really. I'm more of a guitar person, I actually write songs." Alex smiled, crossing her arms together, with a small sense of pride.

"Play one of your songs for me. I have a guitar behind that piano. Go and fetch it." Dolly ordered placing her knitting needles to the side, cleverly hiding it with a pillow.

"I'm not that good ... " Alex warned her reluctantly, pulling the guitar from a nook behind the piano.

"Oh, nonsense. Just play." Dolly waved her hand, submissing her fears.

Alex sighed, as she sat on the edge of the tea table. She held the guitar securely and slid her fingers across the steel strings of the guitar. She rubbed her palm over the bright wood before placing her fingers on the proper strings. She started strumming the chords and was magically whisked away with her music.

She waited on cue and begin to sing in a clear and smooth voice.

_-_

_The dawn is breaking,  
A light shining through,  
You're barely waking,  
And I'm tangled up in you,  
Yeah _

_-_

She looked up meeting the eyes of a very proud looking Dolly. The ends of Dolly's mouth were lifted up into a smile and the skin by her ears with creased with interest in the song. So she continued.

_-_

_But I'm open, You're closed,  
Where I'll follow, you'll go,  
I worry I won't see your face ..._

_light up again._

_Even the best fall down sometimes,  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme,_

_Out of the dark that fills my mind,  
I somehow find, you and I, collide...._

_-_

Soft footsteps were unheard by Alex. Her eyes tightly shut passionately pressing on her journey with her music.

Dolly looked up and her eyes slightly widened at who was hiding around the corner staring curiously at the girl. His gaze transfixed confusedly, before looking back at her grandmother questioningly. Dolly acknowledged him with a nod before turning back to Alex who had finally opened her eyes, glancing up at Dolly.

Dolly smiled back at Alex and humourously added her own thing to the song. Softly accompanying her chords with a 'do dooo do doo'. Alex beamed and giggled, unaware that someone was watching her from behind.

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_I'm quiet you know  
You make a first impression  
I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind  
-_

More 'do doo do doos' from Dolly as she winked up at the boy who was leaning on the corner. Mesmerized by Alex's strumming and singing. His eyes met with his grandmothers and he smiled as well.

_-  
Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the back you fall in time  
I somehow find  
You and I collide  
Don't stop here I've lost my place I'm close behind  
-_

Alex opened her eyes once more, almost bringing the song to an end. Even though two other people in the room were wishing it never would.

_-  
Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem to ryhme  
Out of the doubt that fills your mind  
You finally find  
You and I collide_

_You finally find  
You and I collide  
You finally find  
You and I collide _

_-_

The boy, too entranced, harmoniously joined her in singing the last line. "You and I collide."

Alex quickly twisted around, upon hearing the voice finish the line. It sounded so familiar, like she'd heard it too many times before. But it was a .. good familiar. Upon eye contact with dark hazel eyes, her eyes widened as she temporarily lost the ability to speak. It was him, the little boy in the picture. Except .. all grown up.

"Hey, wait. You're Nate Grey ... " The shock finally wore off and her eyes narrowed into a glare. "What're you doing here?"

Nate opened his mouth, quickly surveying the girl, now that she stood up. She was pretty tall. Clad in dark grey vintage washed skinny jeans, a floral top, a long black vest, and a huge peace pendant. The bangles on her arm jangled as she crossed her arms. He finally remembered. _Talk, Goddamnit Nate! _"Visiting my grandmother, And that's my guitar!"

Alex's mouth opened in shock as her eyes quickly shot between Dolly and Nate. "You're her ... but .. what? Ungh. Have your stupid guitar! I don't want your diseased germs on me anways. Losing brain cells as we speak." She snapped, stepping forward and thrusting the guitar at him, hitting him softly in the gut. It was then that she realized that a small N.G. was carved on the arm of the guitar. She cursed herself for not noticing before.

"GLADLY. I wouldn't want a nasty thing like you touching it anyways. Did you call that music? My ears are still bleeding." He retorted placing his hand on the arm of the guitar, quickly brushing his palm over her fingers.

She gasped and pulled her arm back as if he had burned her. Both of them, stood there. Pasted in their spots, glaring at eachother.

**I hope it's okay? Review review for the next chapter.**

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	3. Chapter 3 : Hate, Hate, Like?

**A/N: **So I underestimated the amount of chapters. I need one more and a possible epilogue. The next chapter is sweet, so if you want it. Review review review. I've also been feeling very sad. My bff, **Kendra (UtterlyRandom)** has just picked it up and left. Did any of you read her fanfics? Weren't they awesome?

**Inspiration:** The innocent cuteness of Seniors. :] And my own wishes of having my own 'Dolly'.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own WOWP, Nate Grey or anything else in this story. Except maybe Dolly.

**Thank you again to my wonderful peeps who reviewed**

**Chapter Two. It inspires me to write more for you guys.**

MusicalSoul3000, ride2night, BethanyMusic, 711slurpeerocks,

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**And once again, the cover.**

h t t p : / / i 4 4 . t i n y p i c . c o m / x c p 0 r 4 . p n g 

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**Hate, Hate, Like?**

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"So, Nate. It's a pleasure to see you. I thought you were on the other side of the country!" Dolly smiled pleasantly as she set two mugs of hot cocoa in front of the teens, who were _still_ glaring at each other.

"Oh, I was gramma." Nate took his eyes off Alex momentarily, looking up at his grandmother with a corny grin. "But we're performing at an Awards Show that's being held here tomorrow night. So I thought I'd visit."

Alex scoffed, before rolling her eyes and crossing her arms defiantly over her chest, leaning back into the support of her chair. "Geez, what awards shows have stooped too nowadays." She muttered under her breath.

Nate's head shot back to her 'bleh' face. "I wouldn't be talking. Was that an original you played? Because it originally sucks!"

Alex's brows furrowed as she leaned forward. "That doesn't even make sense mister Teeny Bop Pop. Go check your slams before you use them."

Nate laughed haughtily as he rolled his eyes. "What is she even doing here Gramma?" He pointed to Alex with his index finger.

"She's been my companion for weeks. Alex is my new friend. And she's very funny." Dolly assured Nate by nodding as she sipped her own tea from the stool a few feet away. She was watching the both of them interact with one another.

"Anyone ever tell you it's rude to point, Poopstar?" Alex ferociously leaned forward, narrowing her eyes, referring to Nate's gesture, his finger still pointing at her.

Nate gripped onto the side of the table with both of his hands as he leaned forward, glaring at her with the same intensity. "Coming from the rudest person on .. what? The Earth!"

"You don't even know me. At least I'm more of a person than cheesy shallow lyrics. 'There's a whale in the pool with my mother'? Come on, my little brother could do better than that." Alex snapped back, supporting herself on the tips of her toes now, leaning forward.

If looks could kill, this would be a tragic battle.

"Okay, kiddies." Dolly cleared her throat with a nervous look. "What would you guys like for lunch?"

Nate and Alex were still glaring deeply into each others eyes, before Dolly gently pushed both of them down with their shoulders. "Suggestions, dears?"

"I'm fine with anything Gramma." Nick leaned back in his seat, taking a sip of his now lukewarm cocoa.

Alex sighed before shaking her head, motioning herself down from the intense confrontation they just had. She walked over to the counter, leaning on her elbows, turning her back on Nick who was giving her a concentrated glare. "What would you like Dolly?"

"Well, I was in the mood for some sandwiches." Dolly's face creased into that familiar twinkling smile as she slowly made her way to the fridge, surveying her options.

"Ooh. I could make some! I'm a professional sandwich maker." Alex giggled as she hopped up excitedly from her chair, forgetting that Nate was still there.

Nate sprung up from his chair. "Hey. Gramma, I can make the sandwiches. Remember my infamous Natanator Sandwiches?" He made a sweep off the shoulder gesture in a sort of proud way.

"Oh. I remember those." Dolly chuckled, reminiscing the memories. "You would put mayonnaise, mustard, meatballs and banana's in them. They were your signature sandwich."

Alex paused, staring at him for a second surprised by his momentary innocence. She came to a realization that she was staring for too long, so she cleared her throat and turned to look at Dolly. "Uhm. My family owns a sub shop by Waverly. Waverly Sub Station, I guess I make pretty good sandwiches."

"Ha." Nick snorted. "Like you could beat my sandwich making skills."

Alex placed her hands on her hip stubbornly and faced him. "Pfft. Bet I could."

"You couldn't. I'm too good."

"I'm better."

"Well, someone thinks highly of themself."

"Excuse me, my face isn't plastered on the cover of every teen magazine!"

"No, you only wished it was."

"KIDS. How about the both of you make the sandwhiches?" Dolly raised her voice for the seemingly first time to the both of them.

"Fine. It'll be torture though." Alex turned quickly, flicking her brown hair in his face.

He spat it out and rolled his eyes, following her to the kitchen.

"Shut it, Grey." Alex snapped as she quickly washed her hands in warm water.

"You too ... Uhm ... too unimportant to be named." Nate patted his hands on a hand towel as he moved beside her reaching for a plate.

"It's Russo, dimwad. Alex Russo." She said, reaching for bread just as he did too.

Their hands both met halfway and he stared up into her eyes momentarily as he hoarsely repeated. "Alex Russo."

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"Morning mommy." Alex sighed as she slid onto the stool on their kitchen island. Justin beat her and got first pick of the waffles. Max wasn't up yet. He never moved before noon on weekends. She mischieviously smiled, plan forming in mind. "Hey Justin. Look, it's Calico woman!" Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a clear 'O' as she spun around, staring at the doorway.

"Where? Calico woman? Huh? COME BACK!" Justin screeched as he did a 180, scanning the room for precious remnants of the precious lifesized Calico woman doll he'd lost a couple months ago. Alex took the opportunity by stabbing half his waffles and plopping them down on her plate.

"She's not .. huh .. ALEX!" Justin glared as he eyed her now full plate.

"Huh?" Alex shrugged innocently, with her daddy's-little-girl grin.

"Kids. Sh. It's only waffles." Theresa laughed as she started cracking eggs over a bowl for her husbands omelette.

"Your hair's unsymmetrical." Justin teased under his breath, crossing his arms in a huffy mood.

"OUCH! That would hurt if I knew what unsymmetrical meant." Alex retorted in a sassy tone. "Anyways, Too lazy to wait for her to make another batch. Have to get to the 'Villa'." She groaned as she rested her head on her forehead, rubbing her smooth skin thoughtfully.

"Why do you always go?" Justin asked curiously, taking a bite of his syrupy waffle, a string of syrup oozing from his mouth.

"She's met such a cute old woman! Dolly, I think it is. Right, mija?" Theresa cooed pinching Alex's cheeks.

She snarled in reply. "Yup. Dolly. But last weekend her stupid grandsong came around. Nate friggin' Grey." She took a sip of her milk, downing the rest of her waffles.

"Omigosh! Nate Grey of Connect 3! Their music is so awesome!" Justin squealed, hopping up from his chair in pure excitement.

"Ew. Figures you'd like them." Alex shook her head in disappointment as she bounded up the stairs leaving a semi-hurt Justin screaming, "HEY! I love Tears of Blood too!"

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Alex did a once over on her outfit in the reflection of the glass doors again. The weather was too hot for converse. So she wore a pale faded tie dye shirt with a vintage floral design, black capris shorts with dressy white dotted lines, and black flip flops. She slipped on a huge heart pendant and a headband and was good to go.

She pushed the door open but instead of encountering the familiar set of faces in the lobby, there was no one. Puzzled, she walked over to Geraldine behind the counter. "Hey, where is everybody?"

Geraldine looked up from her paperwork. The pile never seemed to grow small. "They're in the parlour, It's Bingo day! I'm pretty sure Miss Miller is there. You can join them, if you'd like." She smiled and pointed towards a large arched doorway.

Alex nodded slowly. "Okay, sure. Thanks." She smiled before she turned and walked through the doorway following the noise of a crowd of delighted people. Her smile turned into a beam when she walked into a huge, bright, room filled with long wood tables and happy people. She saw Dolly stand up and wave at her. Alex gave her a huge grin of recognition but that was quickly wiped off her face as she saw who sat beside Dolly.

She hid her glare as she went over and gave Dolly a hug. Dolly gave her a heart-warming "Good Morning." And gestured to a seat between her and Nate. "Sit down, dear. We were just about to begin."

"Joy." Alex desperately tried to hide her sarcasm.

She slumped down in her seat as Nate turned to her and smirked. "You could be more happier."

"What good would that too? I'm still stuck with you." She turned, her eyes narrowing into slits. But they slowly began to dissipate as she noticed what a nice hazel his eyes were. Her eyes widened and he smirked once more turning back to his bingo card. "And we can all tell you hate being stuck with me so much."

She shook her head back to realization again and slowly her eyes were set to her bingo card. "Pig."

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Alex swore under her breath again. It was the third time she visited Dolly with Nate there. They were enjoying lunch on the terrace of the Villa under an umbrella table. Alex was glad she chose to go with the cool red-striped tank, yellow denim shorts, and white espadrilles on a hot sunny day. Her hair was set into a ponytail flowing down one shoulder. She helped Dolly with her outfit. A beautiful yellow plaid sun dress and sun hat. And occasionally Alex would glance at Nate's cool white polo and khaki capri's. They were enjoying pasta prepared by the 'Villa's' chef.

Nate and Alex would share quick glances. But when their eyes met, they immediately looked down. When Dolly caught them, they glared at each other. She gave them an amused knowing smile as she cleared her throat and stood up, partway through the meal. "I'm going to go find something to drink. You two stay."

They obeyed and kept quiet as she walked away. Awkward silence ensued and for once they didn't have any hateful words to say to each other, yet. Alex cleared her throat. "So. Why have you been in New York for so long?" She tried striking up conversation as she stabbed a slippery piece of pasta.

Nick looked amused as he watched her play with her food and he contained a girly giggle. He replied in a 'manly' voice. "Uhm. My family's bought a house here. We decided we needed a home near Gramma."

"Pft. Took you long enough." She muttered subconsciously under her breath as she lifted the pasta to her mouth.

"Pardon?" He squinted in the sun, cocking his head confusedly. "What did you mean by that?"

Alex paused as she looked up and earnestly answered. "Well, I mean, you guys take her for advantage. If I had a grandmother like that, I'd visit her as much as I could. Not carelessly leave her behind and barely visit."

Nick dropped his fork and he stood up, looking very angry indeed. "You don't even know half of it, Alex. So don't talk." He glared, his eyes piercing through hers. "And Gramma told me your grandma was across the country as well, hypocrite much?"

Alex sighed irritatedly as she stood up. She moved forward, staring him straight in the eye before snapping back. "That's different, I don't have a bajillion dollars and private jets now, do I?"

"It is not different at all, Alex."

"Yes, it is, Nate."

"God, shut your mouth. You don't even know what you're talking about." Nate growled as he reached for his sweater, pushing his chair in. "Tell Gramma 'I'm sorry', but I had to go."

"There you go, leaving her again." Alex glared as he shook his head once more before disappearing down the steps inside.

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"Alex?" Dolly placed her hat on the couch and scanned the room for her dear friend.

"Yes?" Alex appeared behind her, sipping on a glass of lemonade.

"Well. Dear, it's my birthday next weekend. And my family's having a party for me and I was wondering if you'd like to come."

"Really?" Alex asked incredulously. She couldn't believe Dolly wanted to invite her to something so personal. But then again, they were basically family now.

"Really." Dolly repeated.

"Sure." Alex placed the lemonade down on the coaster, smiling up at her. "I'd love to.

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The next chapter is Dolly's birthday. Guess where and which family? Haha.

**Okay, so that has been the longest chapter so far.**

**Being the slow me, it took 3 hours. And I decided there's to be**

**one more chapter. BUT YOU NEED TO REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW if you want it.**

**I feel so selfish for asking, but tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4 : I'm Hot, You're Cold

**A/N: **So, I'm sorry. I lied last time. Well, I kind of did. I wrote most of it then my mother forced me off to study and I had to pack for my ski trip and I just came back. I've been feeling pretty goddamn depressed lately. I'm in hair and makeup in a theatre program at my school. I miss one meeting (that I wasn't even aware of), and I lose my character. And they were a pretty big character. And just home life too, yanno. So I'm sorry, and I really wish I had a 'Dolly' right now.

**Inspiration:** Huggable seniors. And the fact that I want a 'Dolly' to talk to, hug, and console me.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own WOWP, SkullCandy, Keds, Busses, Nate Grey or anything else. But maybe Dolly?

**Holy shiznit guys! I got the most reviews ever.**

**Honestly, you are the best. & I wouldn't be writing if it weren't for you.**

XDPurpleTiggersXD, ride2night, -xDISNEYLOVERx-, MeSsWiThMe34, iPodFanatic,

tessa411, 711slurpeerocks, Blackmoonlight777, iamflyingmonkey, emveethroughthedoor,

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Nesquick22, A Forgotten Fairy. .-AKA-Fairy, Rakuzen, hopes4pam

**& the cover.**

h t t p : / / i 4 4 . t i n y p i c . c o m / x c p 0 r 4 . p n g 

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**I'm Hot, You're Cold**

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"Justin, are you almost done your homework yet? You need to get started on mine." Alex yawned as she glanced up at the wall mounted clock with droopy eyelids.

"Alex, I'm not going to do your homework! You need to learn Social Responsibility .. and the first step is being responsible for yourself. Which means doing your own homework. Because that promotes.." Justin endlessly droned, caught up in his current lecture.

Alex yawned as she rubbed her eyes with her fists. She crossed her arms on the table and leaned her head forward, breathing onto the wood. "Are you done yet?" She murmured from her position.

"No." Justin snapped back irritatedly.

Alex sighed as she lifted her head. "Justin, I have a Tears of Blood source. I hear there's a super secret concert this weekend. I'll tell you the location if you do my paper."

"Seriously!?" Justin gaped, he violently leaned over and snatched her paper and textbook from right in front of her, snarling like a mother bear protecting her cubs in the process. "GO GET THOSE TICKETS!"

Alex giggled. "Sure." She pulled herself up from the dining room chair and starting dragging herself up the windy metal staircase.

She was halfway up when the blasted phone began to ring. She looked down to find it laying carefully on the couch. "Justin, could you get that?"

"No, too busy working. Must see Tears of Blood .. you get it." Justin waved her away impatiently as he dug into his work once more, nose up to paper.

"_Fine_." She glared as she slid down on the rail, awkwardly falling off at the end, landing on her arm. A sharp pain shot from her arm as her eyebrows knit together. "Oww." She rubbed her wrist as she slowly stood up and proceeded to reach for the phone anyways.

"Yo?"

"Hello, Alex?" Alex couldn't help herself from grinning, it was lovely little Dolly.

"Yup. It's me, Dollz." She fell into a pile on the couch and lifted her legs to the armrest.

"You should be in bed, deary. It's a school night." Dolly softly advised her and stifled a yawn.

"You sound pretty sleepy yourself, Dolly." Alex laughed, and ended with a yawn. It was contagious.

"I know. Which is why, I'm going to be heading to bed after this. But I called to let you know that the location of the party has been moved."

Alex let out a silent cheer to the Gods as she lifted the phone away from her mouth. "Oh, really? Where is it being held now?"

"The Grey Apple Orchard! My daughter and her family bought a second home in Highland, about 2 hours away. They wanted me to have the sweetest celebration, it'll be held over the whole weekend. How exciting! Do you think you could make it out there? It would mean so much to me." Dolly finished off hopefully. She had never grown so close to someone like Alex so quickly. In fact, she kind of reminded her of herself when she was younger.

Alex quickly guesstimated how long it would take her to bus there, party, and bus back in one day.

She strained as she counted the hours in her head.

Dolly interrupted her thoughts. "You'd have to stay the whole weekend of course. And isn't there some type of holiday on Monday?"

Alex nodded thoughtfully. "Yup. But sure. I'll have to tell my parents, but I pretty much get to do whatever I want. Ha! I'll phone you more about it tomorrow, okay Dolly?"

"Alright deary. Go get some sleep. Good night."

Alex caught herself smiling softly as she cradled the phone in her arms.

"Ew, what happened to your face?" Justin sneered, peering curiously at her rare facial expression.

"The same thing that's wrong with your head." Alex snapped back viciously as she stretched her limbs, nestling them into the crooks of the couch. When she knew Justin wasn't looking, she smiled. This was going to be fun. More time with Dolly. And then, it struck her. Her eyes flew open forming perfect discs as she sat up.

"SHIT. A WHOLE WEEKEND WITH NATE GREY!"

**______________________**

Alex sighed with relief as she sat down on the bed, pushing her duffel bag over the edge onto the floor below. She hated packing, she was absolutely repulsed by the action of packing. But it was done. Her outfits were carefully chosen, her accessories were colorfuly unmatched, and her special lotions and creams were in marked bottles courtesy of her mother.

She sat there, unmoving for a couple minutes till she stood up and grabbed her guitar in the corner of her room. She moved back to her perch on the bed but adjusted herself so that she was looking out of her window into the city. She looked down a few floors below. All the buzzing people, all the bright lights, all the curious noises were inspiration to her. But one thing caught her eye. Amidst the street vendors, business people, and crowds of trendy urban teens was an old woman. A woman with a head of curly white hair that looked similar to Dolly's. Alex knew it wasn't her, Dolly should've been in Highland by now. She smiled as she saw the lady hobble through the crowds, so sure of herself. And it struck something inside her. She rushed over to her vanity and reached for the nearest piece of paper and writing utensil. She skipped over to her bed, lifted her fingers to the strings, strummed, and magically jot down the couple of words that would soon form something specially life-changing.

After an hour, she placed her guitar in it's spot and held up the crinkly piece of paper in the quickly fading sunlight. She hummed the tune when she heard a rap on her door. "Alex, we're leaving in 10. Get ready!"

She grunted in reply as she combed her fingers through her hair once more before examining her outfit. It was pretty comfortable yet fashionable. A pair of vintage grey tights that belonged to her mother, she covered it up with grey fashion shorts. Her new wide sleeved cream top flowed past her hips, the flower mural standing out with it's unique colours. She wriggled her toes in her Keds, she needed some practical footwear if she were to be travelling. And to hide her mop of a bad hair day, she covered it with a beanie specially customized with a pinned flower that Harper had made. Surprisingly, the flower pin turned out well. **(A/N: I'm on Polyvore now. So copy and paste the link & take out the spaces to see what the outfit looks like. **http: // www. polyvore. com /cgi/ set?id =6294367**)**

She made a quick sweep of her room, packing a few last-minute items before switching off her lights and closing her door quietly behind her.

**______________________**

Alex sat up in her seat, glancing at the small suburban houses whiz by. It was all too new for her. She was a New York city-bred girl, through and through. The only time she left the state of New York was to visit her grandma, and that was when she was about 5. She sighed impatiently as she flopped back into her chair and checked the time on her sidekick. 4:57 pm. She had officially been on the bus for ... one hour and 23 minutes. She should be there soon.

She glanced around the bus for someone or something to observe. There was a mother with a loud baby in front of her, seated beside a businessman, and right beside her was some .. rather large man with a Hawaii print shirt? Random. He slowly turned his head and gave her a creepy stare, she shuddered as she pulled her mp3 player out of her packet and slipped her SkullCandy headphones on. She turned on some We The Kings and bobbed her head softly to the lyrics.

_"Check Yes Juliet ... " _She hummed softly with her eyes shut tightly. She felt a tap on her shoulder and she her eyes slowly flickered open to stare up at the bus drivers.

"I think this is your stop." He pointed awkwardly out the window. Alex nodded, shoving her headphones off the her head and reaching for her duffel bag. "Thank you." She smiled before she stepped out the front of the bus. She turned and watched it leave. When it was just a little speck, she finally turned around. She was virtually in the middle of nowhere. At least the suburbs had .. buildings and concrete. This place had ... a dirt road and a field .. with a cow. Her eyes widened, this place was beyond freaky. She shuddered as she clutched her duffel bag closer and sat neatly on the lone wood bench.

**_____________________**

Dolly took a sip of the clear cold water as she checked the clock in the corner of the room. 5:37 pm. Almost dinnertime. She smiled as she placed the glass back on the knitted coaster and focused on her work. But underneath her 'game face', she was wriggling in anticipation. Sunday was her birthday! And Alex was coming on Saturday.

"Nate, I already called the ice cream sandwich in the freezer. It's **mine**!" A cross-looking 8 year old Franklin Grey stalked after his brother, who had just wandered into the room.

Nate rolled his eyes before turning around irritatedly. "I already called dibs bro, you know the deal. Anyways, be a man, toughen up."

Frankie crossed his arms. "I'm only 8! I don't want to be a man. You're mean. All of you guys are mean to me."

"Just cause I won't let you have the ice cream sandwich?" Nate retorted in a snappy tone.

"Yea. I can't wait till that girl Gramma talks about comes. I'll get her on my side." Frankie huffed.

Nate rolled his eyes yet again as he turned to face his grandmother. "Gramma, Mom says Dinner starts in 5 minutes."

"Ooh. Yum." Dolly smiled as she stood up and slowly followed the bickering boys to the Dining Room.

**____________________**

Alex glanced back at her mp3 before it died. 5:48. Was anybody going to pick her up? She'd been waiting for more than half an hour. Making a quick decision, she pulled a slip of paper out of her wallet. 147 Willow Road. She shook her head quickly, knowing she was probably making a bad decision. She jut her jaw out determinedly, clutched her bag closer, and began walking down the dirt road.

**____________________**

"Nate, can you take out the garbage?" A weary Denise called from the kitchen. Her mother and herself had just finished washing dishes for 4 boys.

Silence ensued and then she heard quick shuffling up the stairs. "NATHANIEL JERRY BENJAMIN GREY! I've been busy unpacking, cleaning your rooms, painting, cooking and cleaning dishes. Don't tell you me you can't take out the garbage and do one simple thing for me? Your father and I have done so much for you guys, so you better take responsibility and --"

"Okay, okay mom!" Nate cut in as he rushed down. He hated when his parents went into a rant mode about responsibility. He pulled the plastic edges of the bag together and tied them into a knot. He gave his glaring mother one more corny grin before slipping out of the back door into the dark.

**____________________**

Alex sighed as she dragged her feet forward. With each step she took, she had to encourage herself to keep pressing on. She kept telling herself she'd find the house even though she'd been at this for an hour. It was 6:45, and she'd been wandering aimlessly since. There were no freakin' road signs or house numbers so it was too hard to tell where it was or even pinpoint the area. She was just about to give up when she saw a figure trudge out of a house in the distance to a bucket outside. The figure dropped a bag and quickly ran back into the house.

Alex pushed herself to drag her feet quicker. She had hope that she'd actually have somewhere home tonight. "WAIT!"

The body retreated into the building. Assuming they hadn't heard her, Alex kept running. She came to a pebble lined path and looked up at the house. In the dark, she could make out a silhouette. It was two stories, rather large. It had a traditional homey feel with a deck wrapped around the first floor. A set of rocking chairs were lined on the porch. It looked so 'country'. Alex took a deep a breath and crossed her fingers. There was a huge chance that this could be a Creep's headquarters. And she knew the 'Never Talk to Strangers' rule came to effect here, but she was just so damn tired. She softly knocked on the door. The lights were on, so why wasn't anyone answering?

She inhaled deeply before lifting her fists to the door and began banging the hard wood, moaning at the top of her lungs. "Is anybody home? I'm tired, and sore, and tired. And I've been wandering around for like .. an hour. And I just need a phone or something. And .. I'm tired .. if that wasn't obvious before."

The door quickly swung sooner than Alex had anticipated and she hit the chest of the person that opened his door.

"OW! What the hell!" The boy cursed as he backed away and rubbed where she had just hit him.

Backing up allowed light from the kitchen to shine on him and her eyes widened quickly. "Nate?"

He squinted as he tried to make out who she was. Alex took a step forward into the kitchen. She looked frazzled and tired but he recognized her alright. "Alex? I thought you weren't supposed to be here till tomorrow."

She crossed her arms, and sighed impatiently. "Dolly and I confirmed for today or something. And your glare isn't making me feel very welcomed."

He ignored her last statement as he lifted his finger to point at her. "No, you're not supposed to be here till tomorrow."

"If I was then why would I be here today? That'd mean one extra day with _you._" She snapped back in an obvious tone.

Nate jut his jaw out forward. He couldn't believe the audacity of this girl. She was the single most rudest person he'd ever met. He opened his mouth, preparing for a long and loud comeback. "You'd be lucky to be near me, and I --"

"Nathaniel Jerry Benjamin Grey! The nerve of you, talking to a girl like that." A woman with jet black curly hair stood in the doorway. She scolded him as she curiously glanced over at Alex. "I'm sorry about my sons behaviour. You are?"

Alex looked her up and down and quickly looked over at Nate. He was probably his mother. She saw some resemblance in Dolly too. "Oh. I'm Alex. Alex Russo. Dolly's friend? Apparently, I was supposed to come tomorrow. Didn't get that memo."

"Oh, hello Alex! I'm Denise. Mom's told me so much about you. I'm actually really so happy that she has a companion at the Villa. Have you gotten the days mixed up?" The woman gave her a warm smile, showing off a set of perfect pearly whites. She stuck her hand forward and warmly shook Alex's own.

_She's nice. Not that I can say much for Nate. _"I guess so. I'm so sorry. I could ... "

"Stay for the night? Good idea. You can stay in Frankie's room. I'm sorry. We weren't expecting you this early so we haven't gotten the guest room cleared up." Denise quickly cut in, hospitably.

"BUT MOM! Frankie's room is connected to --"

"Nathaniel." Denise gave him a piercing glare. He quickly shut his mouth and hung his head. His mother had never been so scary in his life. She turned back to Alex and grinned once more. "You must be starved. I'll bring out some leftovers for you. Mum's upstairs asleep, so I can get Nate to keep you company."

"Mom.." Nate groaned, widening his eyes.

"No more lip Nathaniel. Do as told." She warned him as she briskly opened the fridge. In a couple swift movements she pulled a container out and microwaved the contents, poured a glass of milk, and set some steaming roast beef, carrots and potatoes on a plate for her. She set the glass and plate on a small cozy table in the kitchen before standing back and sighing, satisfied. "That'll do. I can take your bags up to your room and Nate can show you up later. Frankie's taking a nap in our room so it'll be alright. I think I'm going to get some reading done. Night kids."

She gently pulled the strap off Alex's shoulder and slid it over her own shoulder and slowly left, before pausing to turn and smile at her. "Welcome to our home, Alex."

"Thank you." Alex gave her a gratuitous smile before pulling the chair and seating herself on it. She sighed with relief. The comfort of even a wood chair made up for her lone hour of wandering the roads.

Nate breathed deeply as he seated himself in front of her. He sat back and crossed his arms staring forward, lips unmoving. It was clear he didn't want to talk. And Alex didn't want him too either. They sat in silence as she chewed her beef, both only making an awkward commotion when he accidentley kicked her foot. When she finished she slowly stood up, pushing her chair backwards and walking over to the sink. "Where's the rest of your family?"

"My two older brothers are with my dad picking up supplies for tomorrow, Frankie's taking a nap in my parent's room, Gramma's sleeping, and my mom's reading." He yawned as he answered boredly.

Alex nodded as she followed him out of the kitchen, and up a flight of stairs onto the second floor.

He led her to a door and slowly pushed it open. It was a cute room. The walls we're painted a light blue and had crown molding through the top. There was a cute double-sized bed with blue flannel plaid covers on one corner of the room with a dark wood dresser beside it. A dark wood vanity stood on the side with a small mirror that had pictures taped up on the mirrors. Little toys were neatly organized on a blue trunk on the foot of the bed, which stood on a plush beige foot rug. She stepped in. Her bag was neatly placed in the closet with the clothes already hung. Her bottles and makeup were neatly organized in the open drawers of the vanity. She smiled a little, it was sweet. Nate looked over at her expression and scoffed before he opened another door in the room. He stood in the doorway and turned around.

"My room is on the other side. So don't disturb me. Knock if there's a fire or emergency or something."

Alex shot him a glare as he shut the door. She sighed as she jumped onto the bed, completely exhausted. She lay there for a second, staring straight up at the ceiling before getting up to quickly change.

______________________

Nate looked down at the sheet of paper, proudly. He had just finished writing a song, and it was a pretty good one too. He sat back in his chair, resting his legs on the bed, his thumbs fiddling with the strings of his guitar. He heard shuffling in the other room and he wondered what she was doing. Sure, she was a bitch, but she was entertaining. Oh, and he'd better warn her about not touching Joe's hair shiz. He stood up and walked over to the door, slowly turning the knob but quickly pulling it open.

What he found made his throat dry and his jaw drop. Alex had her back turned and she was struggling to pull up a pair of black and white polka dot tights. Nate had a clear view of her matching undies. A snow white cotton set.

Nate subconsciously began slowly bobbing his head, watching her. "Uhh..."

Alex turned around quickly, upon hearing someone else in the room with her. Her eyes flashed to meet his and quickly widened in shock. He didn't mean to. He couldn't control himself. But he did a once over, a head to toe. The bra did wonders for her.

"Take a picture pervy. It'll last longer!" She shrieked, abruptly disturbing his check-out session.

"Uh.. Sorry?" He apologized quickly shutting the door behind him. He took a deep breath trying to soak in what had just happened.

"I always knew you were a perverted one, Grey." Alex called out behind the door.

Nate shook his head disagreeably as he slowly paced around his bed. He had just seen Alex in her underwear. What the hell? He ripped up the song he had written earlier. It had dawned on him that it was crap. Absolute utter crap. He pulled another sheet from the top of his dresser and began jotting down words. Words that were about Alex.

_I'm hot, you're cold,_

_You go around .. like you know,_

_Who I am, but you don't._

_You got me on my toes..._

He scratched his head with the tip of his pencil before he pressed it to the paper to write one more verse.

_______________________

Alex woke up in a hot sweat. She had just had the weirdest dream. She was standing in a blob of strawberry ice cream with .. Nate standing right in front of her. He was standing in only boxers and a white tank top. He gave her a smirk and played with the edge of his tank before firmly taking it and lifting it up. And then .. a pig came from virtually nowhere and bit him in the leg. And that was the end.

She sat up in bed thinking about the days events. About how Nate came in and saw her undressing, creep. And about hearing him sing after that. She could only make out a few words, but from the gist of it, it sounded okay. An okay song coming from a creep.

She sorely rubbed her stomach, after realizing how loud it was. _Guess I didn't eat enough. Sorry belly._

She gently peeled away the covers and tiptoed across the rug to the door. She took a breath before slowly turning the creaky knob and opening the door. She peered out cautiously. It was safe. She continued tippy toeing down the staircase till she arrived in the kitchen, careful not to wake anyone. First place to check, freezer. She pulled it open, ignoring the silent hum from the machine. She found a jug of sweet stuff at the back and pulled it out... Strawberry ice cream. Wow, odd. She hummed something as she closed the freezer door only to reveal a Nathaniel Jerry Benjamin Grey .. in boxers and a white tank. Awkward....

* * *

**Aight, dudes. This has definitely been the longest chapter so far.**

**8 pages written over the course of two days. So, I know people**

**who love this story are happy to know that I'm going to continue it**

**for a couple more chapters. Next chapter is when Alex meets the family!**

**BUT review, review, review. Tell me what you think. I like that.**

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**have the best fanfics. So.. GO DO IT.**

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	5. Chapter 5 : Meet the Greys

**A/N: **Hey guys. Sorry, I've been so busy with life. It's just .. like a rollercoaster, I guess? Ha. Sorry though, that's not an excuse. It's absolutely pitiful. But hey, I survived through my first job! And here you go. It's just a filler. The next chapter is going to be absolutely sweet, I already have a lot of it typed up. I'm sure you Nalex lovers out there will love it.

**Inspiration: **Sweet seniors. I met a Dolly at my job the other day. Her name wasn't Dolly. It was Paulie, but she was absolutely sweet.

**Disclaimer: **Nothing but the plot, my friends.

**Guys, I honestly have to give you props for bearing with me.**

**I am one of the worst consistent writers I can think of, but you guys**

**motivate me to keep writing. I think I've told you that already, but it's true.**

xxHeadInTheStarsxx, brookieebabbyy, emveethroughthedoor, StudMuffin-007,

Invader_Mik, vanessadsx, Nesquick22, MusicalSoul3000, LMC89, tessa411,

711slurpeerocks, A Forgotten Fairy. .-AKA-Fairy, ride2night, speedy1028,

Living the Dream Baby, xxWWEvsDISNEYCHANNELxx, XDPurpleTiggersXD

**& the cover.**

h t t p : / / i 4 4 . t i n y p i c . c o m / x c p 0 r 4 . p n g 

* * *

**Meet the Greys**

**

* * *

**_This is dedicated to Emma, Emveethroughthedoor and xxHeadInTheStarsxx [my favourite nalex writer]!_

_

* * *

_

[I forgot the outfits last chapter. Just paste these after the whole polyvore. come thing.]

**Nates Pee jay jays - **/sexy_sleeper/set?id=6427083

**Alex's Pee jay jays - **/cgi/set?id=6399726

* * *

They stood there. Her frozen in place, the cool air from the freezer softly kissing her face. The corner of his lip lifted into a playful smirk.

"Hungry much?" He lifted his eyebrows as he brushed past her, examining the tub she'd just taken out of the freezer. "Strawberry ... Ice Cream? Didn't know we still had some."

"Well, you do." Alex shrugged, slowly shutting the freezer, still unwilling to turn around and look at him. She could fill his intense stare on her. The humming finally came to an end as she closed the machine, thoughtfully. What happened to Nate? Wasn't he supposed to be the cowering guy? Wasn't she supposed to be the intimidating sarcastic girl? She kind of didn't want to see him right now. It wouldn't look too weird if she just made a mad dash for the stairs would it? She quickly shook the silly notion out of her mind. Alex Russo _never _ran from anything .. or in this case, anyone.

"Are you going to have some, or what?" Nick questioned suspiciously as he pulled a drawer opening, taking out two large spoons.

"Doy." Alex shot him down with the scathing obviousness in her tone. She reached for the tub of ice cream and snatched the large spoon from his hands. She leaned, her back pressing firmly to the counters worn edge as she ripped the lid off the tub, digging her spoon in before enhaling it and letting out a content moan. "Mmmmmm ..."

"Pig. Wanna share some?" He snorted as used his arms to push himself onto the counter so that he was comfortably seated on it. His leg brushing against her arm whenever he swung it.

She jerked back at his words momentarily. _Pig. _Yea. _It's just a random choice of words. It has nothing to do with your dream, nothing at all. _"Nope." She looked down at his foot which was rubbing her shoulder, repetitively. He was wearing bunny slippers. Random.

Nate raised an eyebrow. Was this a challenge, then? "Okay then." He reached for it as she rapidly pulled it away. "Ha, as if. Foolish little Nathaniel Jerry Benjamin Grey." She gave him a playful smile as she scooped another glob into her mouth.

Nate glared as he leaned forward, grasping the edge of the tub. Alex's eyebrows furrowed together, putting her 'game face' on. She pulled the tub away from his body, she was not going to give this up.

He growled as he tugged at it some more. His gaze wandered from their hands to her face. Alex quickly looked up to match his gaze. Her eyes narrowed before she strongly pulled both her arms towards her body causing Nick to slide off his nook and onto her as they met in one fateful collision, ending up on the floor in a tangled mess. Her hand ended up woven through the strap of his white tank and his head rested on her chest. They lay there for a second before they realized the awkward position.

"Ew. Perv, get off me!" She snapped irritatedly as she sat up, almost jerking his tank off his body.

"You're calling me the perv? You're trying to strip me!" Nate shrieked, his voice hitting an awkward puberty high.

Alex lifted a brow and smirked at his voice, before carefully maneuvering herself away from him. She burst into a fit of giggles. "Aww, little Natey's still going through puberty."

"I am not!" His voice failed at being masculine again, still hitting a high strain before he cleared his voice. "Now, could we please get off the damn topic of my puberty stage?"

"Hokay, whatever." Alex smirked once more as she pulled herself from the ground. Nate shot up and reached for the tub of ice cream before she did. "Ha!"

"It's okay. Didn't want some anyways." Alex patted her stomach contently, lying through her teeth. Alex Russo _never _admitted to defeat either. Even if it was .. ice cream.

"Liar." Nick rolled his eyes as he chuckled. "But that means more ice cream for me."

Alex quickly stuck her toungue out and in response, he lifted his eyebrow at her cute gesture.

The sound of a series of items falling to the ground and fumbling made their heads shoot up from their awkward eye contact. Alex froze as she peered into the dark hole of a living room. "What the hell was that?"

"Awh, is someone scared?" He mimicked her teasing tone that she had done earlier.

"Pft. As if." Alex's eyes shifted around nervously. Another crash and a pained moan erupted from the room. This time, Nate jumped a little.

Alex smirked at him. Nate cleared his throat, ashamed of his 'wimpy' gesture. "How about we go and check what that is?"

Alex crossed her arms, but slowly nodded. She stepped towards the darkness, taking a deep breath to calm herself. A feeble squeak escaped from her lips as she felt something forcefully grip her arms. She turned around to find herself staring into her reflection in Nate's widened eyes. He blinked twice before he mumbled something. "Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Sure." Alex laughed as she slid her hand a long the wall, looking for the light switch. She felt Nate's hands squeeze her arm even tighter, up to the point where it was starting to fall asleep. They were quiet, all she could hear was his short uneven breaths in her ear and her fingers sliding around the smooth wallpaper fumbling for the switch.

Her fingers came into contact with a small square shaped knob. She flipped it to the other side and her vision was blinded by a white light. Her eyes adjusted and the first thing she could make out was a pink. She let out a loud "HOLY!", and stepped back only to bump into something small and alive behind her. She turned around quickly and screamed till she thought her lungs would pop again. Her free hand shot to her heart as she panted heavily, trying to recover.

"Are you okay?" The little figure scratched his head and yawned, staring up at her through his bright brown orbs curiously.

"Oww..." Nate had let go of her arm when she screamed the second time. Now his attention was on his temples as he rubbed them soothingly.

Alex shut her eyes and counted a quick 1 - 5, breathing deeply before she opened her eyes, staring down at the little person before her. She felt the warmth of her hand on her heart and rapidly pulled it away.

"Alex, are you okay?" Nate repeated the other's question, with a somewhat concerned tone that sounded more like he was weirded out and didn't know whether he should phone the ambulance or not.

"Yea. Why wouldn't I be?" She retorted with sass, focusing on the little boy in front of her. He had a head of rich wavy brown hair that was tousled into a mess, his bright brown eyes stared at her penetratingly, with an eyebrow raised in confusion and his lips pursed together. He glanced her up and down before he turned to Nate. "What was going on? Were you scared? Did Nate do anything to you?"

"I didn't do anything to her. Look! She's completely fine." Nate cried out in defense as he pointed at Alex who had finally been clued in to who the little boy was.

"Don't worry kid. I'm fine. That picture just sprung itself on me." Alex pointed to the drawing on the wall. Now that she had a chance to look at it, it was a rough drawing. With crayon.

"Tommy? But I drew that picture! He's my imaginary pig!" The little boy cried out worriedly, as he quickly jumped to the other side of the room, closely examining his masterpiece.

"No, never mind. I'm guessing you're Frankster?"

"Yup. And are you Alex? Gramma's been telling us a pretty girl named Alex was going to come. I came downstairs to get stuff ready for your surprise welcome par --" Frankie bit his lip as he realized he'd rambled for too long, spilling his secret.

"A party?" Alex inquired as her eyes moved between Nate and Frankie, Nate avoided eye contact by staring at the ground.

"Yea. I guess it's all out now. I was getting a party ready for you. But Nate wouldn't help. He's stupid. Really stupid." Frankie leaned in to loudly whisper the last part into her ear.

Alex giggled, she normally disliked little kids, but she made up her mind that maybe Frankie would be an exception. "Isn't he always?"

Frankie's brows furrowed together for a millisecond with a concentrated look on before he groaned and nodded. "That's so true." He smiled, but it soon disappeared as he lifted his arms up to stretch into a yawn.

"Somebody's tired. How about we finish this tomorrow?" Alex flicked him in the nose as he sleepily nodded, swayed, and fell into her arms. Nate rushed forward to peel his little brother off Alex's petite frame but she swatted his hand away and hissed. "I can do it, I'm not incompetent, you know."

Nate sighed as he attempted one more time, he couldn't believe that a small girl like her would actually have the strength to lift a boy like Frankie up. She shot him daggers through her eyes as she slowly stood up, carefully wrapping Frankie's arms around her, and supporting his body with her arms. She shot a triumphant haughty look at Nate. "Lead the way."

He shook his head, but dismissed her glare with a sleepy yawn of his own as he sleepily stumbled up the stairs and motioned to his room. His parents were probably asleep now and he didn't want to disturb them. He pushed the door open as Alex slowly walked in, subconsciously taking everything about his room in. The smell, the colours, the items. She carefully laid Frankie on his side, unaware that Nate was watching her every move. Alex gently brushed a wisp of Frankie's hair to the side and smiled before she stood up. "See you in the morning." And then she left.

Nate waited for their door to close before he groaned. Inwardly, his emotions were conflicted. Fighting for something that made sense, he swiftly walked over to his dresser and picked up the song he'd been working on earlier, sang what he had once more, before smiling to himself. He tucked himself into bed and turned off his lamp, falling into a slumber. While the little boy behind him smiled.

_____________________________________________________

Alex flipped over in bed, staring at the clock on the bedside table. 8:37 am, she patted her stomach again, inwardly apologizing for forgetting to feed it after all the commotion last night. She managed a small smile as she saw sunlight stream in through the sheer pale blue curtains. She yawned before she stretched and sat up, steadying herself on her feet. Her knees cracked softly as she stood up and stumbled her way to the closet in the corner. _Maybe I shouldn't use magic, huh, might get caught. What ever, it's only a weekend. I'll survive choosing my own clothes._

It took her 15 minutes but she finally decided on a bright turquoise plaid button up, frayed denim shorts, and black low top converses. She blinked at her reflection in the mirror, carefully examining her facial features. She looked okay, despite the small bags under her eyes. Her hair was a tad frizzy but still curled intact, she let it down and brushed it, the curls bouncing loosely. She hummed as she chose a variety of black elastic bands just in case, and slid them over her wrist. She was done. [**outfit - **this_is_how_you_do/set?id=6803311]

She softly ran out the room, quietly closing the door behind her in case any others were sleeping. Alex walked down the stairs and into the living room as she was greeted by Frankie and an unfamiliar head. They were lying, stomach down on the carpet watching cartoons on the television. Frankie made a squeak when he realized Alex was in the room. "Hey Alex!"

The other guy turned around to face her, crooking his neck away from the television set. He was older than Nate and Frankie, but not too old, still fairly young. She guesstimated 20. His hair was a curly mess, not as curly as Nate's but she judged him to be another brother. "Hey Frankie and dude-I-don't-know."

The guy rolled over on his behind and finally stood up. "Hey, I'm Jason. I'm guessing you are .. Alex? Gramma and Nate have not been able to keep their mouths shut about you."

"Nate talks about me?" Her head cocked inquisitively, as she slumped into the couch, looking down at Jason on the floor. Frankie sat up and jumped onto the couch beside her.

"Yea. But most of the time it's 'She's so obnoxious. She thinks she's always right.' 'She has a huge ego, someone should knock her off her cloud.' or 'Big mouth should shut it.' Things like that." He shrugged as his gaze wandered from Alex back to the TV.

"Oh." Her face fell slightly. _Why should I even care what Nate thinks? He's stupid. He's a cheesy sap, his opinion doesn't matter one bit. Stupid moron. Idiot. Jerk. Jackass._

"Don't worry though. Gramma kind of overpowers his opinion. I'm sure you're nice." Jason gave her an assuring smile.

"Depends." She gave him a slightly mysterious smirk.

He was puzzled but he ignored it as he heard the familiar voice's of his mother's echo through the house. "BREAKFAST! WAKE UP BOYS!"

"Come on Alex, sit beside me." Frankie took her hand as he pulled her into the kitchen. Jason slowly followed behind. The dining table was set for 8. Denise and Dolly were placing steaming platters of food on the coasters on the table. Denise looked up and smiled. "Good morning Alex, I hope your sleep was okay."

"Oh, thank you. It was." Alex smiled graciously as she took a seat.

"Alex! Dear, I thought you meant you were coming today. I'm so sorry, was it a lot of trouble?" Dolly appeared at her side and hugged her tightly as she stood up.

"No. Well, okay. Just a couple of hours wandering around completely lost. But that's about it." Alex replied cheekily as she sat down again, observing Dolly take a seat beside her.

"Smart mouth." Dolly's eyes twinkled as she smiled, nestling herself in her chair.

Alex shrugged knowingly as two guys bumbled into the room. She recognized Nate and pried her stare off him to look at the other fellow. He was actually pretty okay-looking. And she recognized him as the middle brother. He had slightly curly black hair that swept over his tired, slightly red, eyes. He yawned as he elbowed his brother playfully, shoving him off to the side before sitting down. Nate scowled as he took a seat beside Dolly and in directly in front of Alex. He was still wearing the same thing from last night, his brother was at least wearing some sweats.

"Morning boys." Denise smiled as she folded the towel, placed it neatly on a rack and took a seat beside Shane. She looked him up and down quickly. "Guys, please change before you come to the table."

Shane groaned. "Yes mom." He sleepily buried his head in his arms, he tilted his head staring at his younger brother who was doing the same, except he kept casually glancing in front of him. He looked up to meet Nate's gaze, which rested on a pretty little brunette. Her eyes lit up and she laughed while Frankie whispered something in his ear. Shane wiggled his eyebrows as he looked back at his brother. He leaned over and sleepily whispered. "Crushing?"

Nate quickly sat up, brows furrowing. "What? No!" He hoarsely whispered back to his brother.

Shane smirked as he leaned over, extending his arm towards the girl. "Hey. I'm Shane Grey."

She stared at him as if he were weirding her out. She blinked a few times before she slowly shook it. "Alex."

"Cool. So you must be the girl that gramma's been talking about." He smiled flirtaciously, and darkly.

She smirked. "And you must be the big headed lead singer that was featured on HotTunes for his behaviour last summer." Quiet enough so that no one else but Nate and Shane picked it up.

Nate suppressed a chuckle as his brother's expression eased into a smile. "Touche. I had problems, my girlfriend fixed them."

"One lucky gal." Alex replied enthousiastically sarcastic. She crossed her arms and leaned down, as Frankie nudged to whisper something in her ear again. She quickly dismissed Shane.

Shane turned to his younger brother once again. "She's a keeper." He joked as Nate glared at him.

"What are you guys whispering about?" Denise questioned glancing between the both of them.

"Nothing mom." Nate mumbled, hiding his viciousness.

She was just about to chastise him but her husband kindly interrupted. "Morning."

He had on a pair of trousers and a nice loose t-shirt. He took a seat at the other head and smiled at everyone. "Morning family and ... ?"

"Alex." Denise finished for him and smiled at Alex. Alex nodded reassuringly.

"Oh yes! Dolly's been talking about you a lot." He remarked as he took Kevin's and his wife's hand.

"So, I've heard." Alex smiled as Frankie and Dolly reached for hers. She bent her head as Mr. Grey said a quick breakfast prayer thanking the Lord for the day and the food.

The boys became lively as the prayer ended and the fight for the food began. After several warnings from Mrs. Grey, they were done. Alex patiently waited and scooped some scrambled eggs onto her platter. She passed the sausages, after a momentary flashback to her nightmare and viced for toast instead.

"So, Alex. How did you meet Dolly, exactly?" Mr. Grey paused, starting some conversation before lifting some porridge to his mouth. Some dribbled off the spoon and slid down his cheek until Mrs. Grey laughed and wiped it off with the corner of her napkin.

"Well. Actually, I needed the service hours and this was like, the only option left. So I signed up for it and met Dolly. I'm just really glad she isn't one of those cheek pinching grandmothers." She lifted the ketchup bottle from in front of her and a huge squelch came out as she poured some onto her eggs.

Nate looked up at the sound just as Alex did. "You like ketchup with your eggs too?"

Alex nodded nonchantedly as she handed him the bottle.

"Cool." He replied quietly, squeezing some of the red goo on his own food.

Dolly eyed the two of them, analytically, watching their every move. She smiled before she swallowed her spoonful of raisin speckled porridge.

"Actually ... " Alex paused thoughtfully before smiling at Dolly, breaking the silence between the loving husband and wife and ravenous boys. "She taught me to knit. I thought it was so old peopley before. But, she's made it fun."

"Awh. Mom." Denise cooed as she rubbed her mothers back gently. "That's so sweet."

Alex smiled at the mother/daughter interaction before bowing her head to her food once more. Silence passed across the table with everyone still immersed on their stomachs and the food in front of them.

"So, what're you boys doing today?" Denise questioned, curious to what her boys were up to. She always had a need to be in control when it came to her family's whereabouts and schedule.

"I think Shane and I are going to be in town picking up some supplies for tonight and tomorrow. We might drive into Arlington, the town over if we need to. But we'll be back before tonight, don't worry mom. A tradition's a tradition." Kevin reassured his mother in his special happy-go-lucky way.

"Yup." Shane commented, running his hand smoothly through his hair before yawning.

"What's tonight?" Alex spoke up, confused. Was she intruding on some type of family tradition?

"Every time we visit mom, we have a campfire, where we roast marshmallows and hotdogs. I've been doing it since I was a little kid and mom and I like to keep it up. It'll probably be somewhere in the yard." Denise explained slowly before turning to her youngest. "And what are you doing Frankie?"

"Doing stuff with Nate." Frankie shrugged before his eyes widened, as if something struck him. "Alex, do you want to hang with us too?"

Alex bit her bottom lip, wanting to say no because of stupid Nate but she couldn't resist those baby brown eyes. Oh, screw Nate. This would be all her and Frankie. "Sure, buddy. What kind of stuff are we going to do?"

"I don't know. Bike. Get Ice cream." Frankie went on, listing options as Alex listened intently. And out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nate frustratedly hide his head in his arms and let out a groan. This .. was going to be a long day.

**Hey guys. Here we are. End of the chapter. I actually dislike this one so much,**

**but hey, she needs to meet the family sometime, right? Ha. Anyways, next chapter**

**is their whole day. It's actually going to be soo sweet. Tons of Nalex! Ack.**

**But here we go again. Review! Tell me what you thought. Did you like it?**

**I didn't .. not really. Well, next chapter is going to be up sooner. One week, tops.**

**I LOVE YOU ALL. :] And I have an idea for a new fanfic, but I'm finishing this one first.**

**Be sure to check out my page for my friends pages, which are superdiculously awesome, and my bulletin 'board'.**


	6. Chapter 6 : Bikes, Skateboards, & Candy

**A/N: **Hey guys. I'm a dirty promise breaker. It's been over a month and I said a week. So I'm going to stop putting deadlines on this. I went through like 3 weeks of a writers block for this and I really wanted to finish this because I had ideas for another fanfic. And I've just found out I'm going to the Philippines at the end of April! My family is opening up a water purification company and I have to go for the inauguration or whatever. I hope to have another chapter by then and it'll probably be posted by my friend, Emma. Thanks for sticking with me guys.

**Inspiration:** Seniors and a couple of WOWP episodes! I finally got to watch EVERY episode. I've been without internet for days.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Disney, or The Best Day by TSwift, or any of the songs mentioned. Basically, I don't own anything but the plot and Dolly.

**These people down here are the absolute best. It really makes my day when**

**I come home and find reviews, and you guys make me feel so guilty when **

**I don't update quickly! But that's a good thing. Dudes, this is a new high!**

emveethroughthedoor, xXLoveBeingDifferentXx, StudMuffin-007, xxHeadInTheStarsxx,

ride2night, lxSnowAngelxl, Living_The_Dream_Baby, Nesquick22, vanessadsx,

A_Forgotten_Fairy._.AKA-Fairy, HPDanEmma, xopeaceQTx13, MusicalSoul3000,

gracefulangel77, speedy1028, SourirexBeau, LMC89, lewstar13, JoBroHSMfanatic,

JonasBroMusicROCKS, camirae, BlueChic

* * *

**& the cover.**

h t t p : / / i 4 4 . t i n y p i c . c o m / x c p 0 r 4 . p n g

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**Bikes, Skateboards, and Candy**

(_This is the longest chapter yet. 16 pages_, 8000+ words)

* * *

**Dedicated to** _xxHeadInTheStarsxx, emveethroughthroughthedoor, XLoveBeingDifferentXx (Caity)_

"So what do you have planned, buddy?" Alex carefully patted her hands dry on the towel quickly before Frankie pulled her into the living room and onto the couch.

He batted his bright baby browns before shutting them tightly and resting his head on a cushion. Eyes still closed he replied hoarsely, "Maybe we could go biking or buy candy in town. We have to wait for Nate though."

Alex smiled as she poked him gently in the nose before letting her posture loose as well. "Okay .... or ..." She sat up quickly as if she'd been stuck with a burst of genius, "We could leave without him?" The suggestion rolled off her toungue hopefully as she lowered her head to inspect his baby ish features curl into a thoughtful expression.

"... No. Mommy said I had to babysit him." Frankie reasoned before opening his eyes quickly, staring back up at her. "She doesn't trust him." He explained before closing his eyes once more.

"Ha. Whatever you say." She yawned as she began realizing how comfortable the cushions were. And slowly, she began losing consciousness.

Nate took the time to choose clothes. And he really didn't know why. He just felt he needed to. "God, I'm turning into a girl." He groaned under his breath as he realized he was subconsciously looking for Shane's hairspray. He kicked himself mentally before skimming his eyes up and down his attire in the mirror, running his hand through his hair one more time he winked before he shut the door behind him. His slip-ons quietly connected with the hard wood of every step as he walked down, sliding on the railing at the end. He hummed as he slid off smoothly and into the living room where his gaze rested on a sleeping Frankie who was curled up into a ball, resting his head on Alex's stomach while her head was thrown back, parallel to the ceiling.

They looked so peaceful and angelic. He stared at the two of them for awhile before picking up another cushion on the opposing couch. He tiptoed over and beaned them repetitively in the heads.

Frankie woke up with an angry cry as he rubbed his eyes, glaring sleepily at his older brother who moved onto Alex. After the first hit, he pulled back to bean her again before she unexpectedly shot her hand forward stealing the pillow swiftly in his hands, bonking him in return. "Never mess with a sleeping Alex." She warned him seriously as she stood up, straightened her plaid button down, lifted her head and gestured towards Frankie. "Come on Frankie, let's go."

Frankie nodded as he followed her out the front door. Nate lay on the couch for a second, still surprised at the speed of her reflexes. _Wow. _He stood up, straightened his jacket, and followed their path out the door.

Frankie stopped on the front path, as he buried his hands in his pockets and kicked a lone pebble on the path. Alex stopped as well, and turned around swiftly. Her eyes had never been able to make out what this place looked like during the night, but it was .. cute. Just like one of those model country houses pulled off a home makers magazine cover. It had white boards and a green trimming. Several pink and yellow colored flowers were carefully arranged on the deck besides a swinging chair. Normally she would've puked at how cute it was, but this country air must've been getting to her.

"So what're we going to do, Tank?" Nate asked, his voice breaking Alex's dreamy daze. She blinked, snapping back to reality with enough time to shoot her eyes at Frankie's answer.

"OOH, and can we go get some cotton candy in town or something?" Frankie looked up, squinting in the sunlight.

"Uhm, sure?" Nate shrugged, digging his hands into his pocket, wiggling it around to check and see if he had change. "Alright, we're good to go."

"I'll be-are-be. Wait up for me." Alex softly punched Frankie's arm before running into the house. 40 seconds later, she was out again. "Back."

"We can see that." Nate rolled his eyes.

"Haha, Shut it Grey." Alex's eyes narrowed into a quick glare before she started walking down the path. They followed till she quickly turned around. "Wait, town is where? I don't even know where I'm going. We're like, in the middle of nowhere."

"Town is 3 km away. I guess we could bike there?" Nate suggested as he glanced over at the shed where their bikes were contained. "You could use moms." He started off in the direction before she could say or do anything. Frankie sprinted after him, pulling out his bike. Nate pulled out his green bicycle before looking around for his mothers. He found it and pulled it out. A fire red vintage baby.

"Here." He pushed the handlebars into Alex's hands when she managed to catch up with them.

She pushed his arms firmly away and looked at him as if in a deep disgust. "I don't do bikes."

"Well, you're going to have to _do _them unless you want us to tie you to the back of our bikes and drag you along for the ride, because I'm not walking for a spoiled chick who doesn't _do_ bikes." Nate flared out, releasing his anger in the tone of those words, his nose turning a bright pink. It always tended to do that when he got mad.

Alex blinked before resuming her stance and raising her voice. "There you go being your stupid judge..mental self! I am not 'a spoiled chick', you have no right to say that at all. I just don't _do_ bikes, okay?"

Nate took one long look at her before sighing and throwing the bike at the lawn beside her. He let out one sarcastic chuckle before crossing his arms and staring deeply into her dark brown eyes. "Why are you so pigheaded? Can't you just go with me for once?" His words were low and there was a plead in it.

"No." Alex replied as quickly as he asked.

"Please?" Nate asked once more as he picked up the abandoned bike from the ground, he thrust it at her more gently this time.

Alex looked up at his eyes and bit back a sigh. It was a moment of weakness. "Yea. Fine."

Nate smiled. "Finally, cause .. " The curve of his mouth disappeared as he swung his leg over his bike. He coughed, "We would've had to drag you along. Really."

"Are you losers ready?" Frankie asked from the front of the lineup of bikes they had formed.

"Yea. Ready, Alex?" Nate asked as he kicked back the support stand of his bike.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She begrudgingly mumbled under her breath.

And with that, Frankie took off, leading the pack, his legs pumping around in a constant cycle. Nate followed too, with no problem at all. And when it came for Alex, she shut her eyes tight before taking a deep breath and lifting her foot from the ground, pushing her bike along the lawn in the process. It slid to the other pedal as she started moving her feet in a circular motion, she edged to the front of her seat, the adrenaline pumping through her blood.

She made it onto the road before the bike slowly started to lean one way, in a matter of milliseconds it slammed into the dirt, bringing her down with it. She brought her arms up to protect her and in the process her leg slipped off and got caught under the sharp grooves of the pedal. She moaned after realizing what happened.

Nate caught her shrill shriek and made an abrupt stop. He kicked the support stand of his bike down and jumped off, slowly walking to her body. "What happened? We barely made it out of the yard."

"I told you! I don't _do_ bikes." She groaned as she attempted to kick the bike away.

"I know but .... " Nate raised his eyebrows as he crossed his arms and spoke slowly and unbelievingly. "You don't know how to ride a bike?"

"I told you." Alex repeated as she gave up and turned her head, sitting up to look at him. Nate laughed.

"Alex! Are you okay?" Frankie asked as he finally realized what had happened and rode up beside the pair.

"Yea. Peachy." She said with tainted sarcasm. Nate surveyed the wreck before him once more before laughing and peeling the bike away from her body. She winced as she lifted her leg, his eyes squinted as he studied her up and down making sure she was okay. Her clothes were a bit dusty, and so was her hair, but a little dust never hurt anyone. They went down to her shin before he looked back up at her face. "You need a band aid."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." She rolled her eyes as he pulled her up by her hand.

"I'm sure we have some inside, come on." Nate started towards the house when he felt some warmth eminating from his right hand, the sweet friction of hand against hand and he would've left it had he forgotten who it was. "EW!" He pulled his hand away as he looked back at her, realizing that he'd forgot to let her hand go and was dragging her towards the house.

"Dude, I was just about to say the same thing." She smirked as she picked up her pace, entering the house and smiling at him.

Nate looked on after her, confused. The screen door swung in his face, snapping him out of his daze. He felt his cheeks get warm, like really warm. _Oh damn you._

_______________________________

"We have .. pokemon band aids?" Nate asked curiously from the counter.

Alex rubbed her eyes, tiredly. "Sure."

"Here, we have to clean it, this might hurt a little." He sat down on the chair beside her. Her body was nestled on two seats. She was sitting up, leaning on one of the chairs backs, her legs were extended and her knee's folded onto the other chair. He leaned forward, hydrogen peroxide - soaked cotton swab in hand.

"Pft, I think I can handle the pain." She assured him as he shrugged. He bent his head forward, studying the cut making sure to get all of it. His hand moved to her leg and he quickly swiped along the swab of fluff long cut. He smirked as he felt her shake at his touch. That's what intrigued him about her. She acted so tough all the time, why?

Alex cleared her throat, noticing he completed his task. He pulled away, chucking the swab into the open garbage can on one side of the room, missing it by a couple inches.

"Fail." Alex giggled.

"Hey, don't make fun of the guy with the band aids." Nate laughed as he pulled them out of his pocket.

Her giggle ended with a sigh and a smile as he unwrapped the band aids. A silence filled the room as he carefully patted them down along her cut, it took 5 of them, but he was done. He sighed with accomplishment as he looked up and met her eyes. She was still smiling.

"Thanks, you know." She whispered under her breath, leaning her face against her knee causing their faces to be abnormally close once more.

"It's okay." He smiled and felt the familiar warm feeling in his cheeks.

It lasted for around 15 seconds before she coughed and sat up. Nate blinked. She stood up and headed towards the door, turning back to smirk at him. "Don't expect a lot of sappy moments like that to ever happen again."

And with that, she turned and made her way out to the yard where an impatient Frankie was waiting. Nate still had that damn warm feeling in his cheeks

_______________________________

"Okay, so I'll get this bikey thingy down in like 10 minutes. Just give me some space." Alex told them confidently, as she swung her leg over the bike and pushed herself away from the ground confidently. Her eyes narrowed into concentration as her legs began pumping wildly again, she could feel the stares coming from Frankie and Nate burning through her back. She needed to get away, she needed to get far.

She made it out the fence, the dust kicking up from behind the back wheel of the bike. She grinned as she sat up in her seat. She was actually doing it. Wow. She turned her head to beam triumphantly at Frankie and Nate, and she did, before losing her footwork and slamming into the dirt again. This time it was face first and her mouth was still open.

"And another one bites the dust." Nate smirked, as he leaned against the fencepost in a prettyboy manner.

"Ha ha. You're not funny." Alex groaned as she rolled over onto her back, squinting her eyes to hide from the sun mockingly shining into them. She could feel the fine grainy particles in her mouth and she attempted to spit them out in disgust. "Eww...."

"You're not very good, Alex." Frankie observed as he peeled her hand away from her eyes and tried pulling her up.

"Yea, you know, I have to agree with you on that one." Alex replied as she stood up and wiped the backs of her knees.

"So, it's obvious we aren't going to make it to town today." Nate laughed mockingly.

Alex's eyes shot up to his for a second before she looked away and gave him a sweeping hand gesture. "Always the one to bring people down, huh Grey?" She turned to Frankie. "Do you have any other things with wheels?"

"Uhm, we have rollerblades?"

"Nope." Alex quickly shook her head.

"Scooters?"

"Don't think so, buddy."

"I think we have a couple skateboards. Jason and Shane used to skateboard." Frankie suggested hopefully. He needed candy ... now.

"Hey! I know how to skateboard. Sure. Bring me to 'em." Alex hopped up ecstatically. She missed her skateboard back home, and this was something she could totally pwn Nate at.

Frankie grinned at the prospect of getting his candy quicker and eagerly pulled Alex's hand to the shed. "Here." He gestured to the small display of skateboards as he'd seen a girl do it on the Wheel of Fortune yesterday.

"Dude, some of these are so sick!" She lunged forward expecting each one carefully. When it came to skateboards, this was her playing field.

"How are you going to skateboard on a dusty road?" Came the voice of an amused Nate from the doorway. He'd never seen her so animated and excited.

"Some of these have all-terrain wheels, doy." Alex rolled her eyes matter-of-factly as she swiped her hand smoothly across a board she had just picked up. It looked fairly unused, and underneath was a mural of vector doodles of various birds in darker colours. "This one. Who's is it?" Alex looked up questioningly.

"Jason's." Nate answered quickly. "He loves birds. Custom made, but I don't think he'll mind if you use it." He smiled, lying through his teeth. Last time he'd touch something of Jason's, he went ballistic. He figured he'd set her up, just for his own amusement.

"Awesome. Let's go, guys." She hitched it under her arm as she pushed them out of the shed.

Nate watched her warily as he and Frankie got on their bikes, he could never picture Alex skateboarding. She was such a .. girl. And 'girls' did not skateboard, even he couldn't skateboard, it's not like she could.

He was so immersed in his thoughts, he didn't catch Alex mount on her skateboard and gracefully ease herself forward, growing speed. She pulled up beside him and stuck her toungue out. "Oh, beat that, nimrod."

He raised his eyesbrows before loudly protesting at her statement. "I am not a nimrod!" His screams were futile, she was too far. And now she and Frankie were racing towards town. He sighed, subconsciously entranced by her dark chocolate brown waves flowing in the wind.

_______________________________

"All chained in." Frankie exclaimed proudly, showing Alex his successfully locked up bicycle.

"Awesome. We would get candy .. where?" Alex looked around, in awe and weirded out by how the town centre looked like something out of a cute little country movie.

"Right there." Frankie pointed to a small building beside the bike racks that had 'GENERAL STORE' carefully engraved into the faded wood.

"Wow." She widened her eyes and took a step back, to see the place in full view. "Hard to believe we're still in the state of New York." She muttered under her breath as Frankie hopped by her, only to stop right in front of the door. "Coming?"

"What about your brother?" Alex asked.

Frankie stopped to cock his head and stare at her in confusion and bewilderment. "Ungh, he'll catch up. But why do you care?"

"I don't." Alex snapped back quickly, biting the rudeness that was slipping out of her voice. She was asking herself the same thing. "Just wondering if he was far enough to ditch, let's go." She smiled, recovering as she followed Frankie, pulling the swinging door open.

_______________________________

Nate had just enough time to catch which store they disappeared into as he pulled into the bike racks. He quickly locked it up and sprinted to catch up with Alex and his brother, pausing, hand still frozen on the door handle as he peered in. There was some guy leaning over the counter, smiling and running his hands through his hair, eyes plastered on Alex. _His_ Alex. Wait, since when Alex his? He shook the silly notion out of his head as his eyes turned to Alex. She was giggling and twirling a lock of her brown hair between her fingertips. Frankie was nowhere to be seen, probably hiding in one of the aisles.

_______________________________

Alex giggled at something this 'Brad' had said. Just some compliment on how pretty her lips were. Yea, her lips. He obviously had something on his mind, but Alex couldn't help _but_ giggle. She didn't get a lot of compliments very often. And this Brad guy seemed really confident. She found that attractive in guys. And he had really nice hair, even though it was blond...

".. Hello, Alex?" She was jolted back into reality as Brad's features turned into a curious expression.

"Yea, sorry? I was just looking at the...." She desperately glanced at the items on the shelf behind his head for an excuse. "uh... Mosquito spray?" That worked.

"Oh cool, I was just asking if you boarded, but I guess you want a bottle?" He turned around quickly, pulling two bottles from the shelf.

"Yea, I do. I board, that is." Her lips scrunched up into a fake smile as he presented the two bottles.

"Alright. This one, Man Musks Mosquito Repellent lasts for 6 hours is good, it keeps away the pesks, that's for sure. But personally, I think you should buy this one. It's KidFuns Strawberry Smelling Spray, it lasts for two, but the smell is really sexy." He took a whiff of the bottle cap just to prove it.

Alex raised an eyebrow staring at this creep. "Yea, you know. I'll take the first one. I'd rather smell like a man than wear strawberry and get eaten alive by mosquito's. No brainer." She reached for the green hardcore - looking can.

Brad stealthily pulled it closer to him and farther away from her. "But, you might wanna smell good for our date tonight." He winked, placing the pink bottle in her hand. "Who knows what we might do." She was going to lose her breakfast, right there.

She coolly slammed the can onto the counter and snatched the green one in his other hand. "Yea, No, this isn't going to work ..." She quickly scanned the store for Frankie but instead locked eyes with a boy hidden behind the door. She smiled victoriously as she turned back to look at Brad. "My boyfriend won't like that."

"Boyfriend?" He pathetically asked.

She crossed her arms and nodded, before marching over to the door, slamming it open and grabbing Nate's hand entwining it into her own. Nate looked lost in this situation, and kind of scared.

She pulled him by the counter and gave Brad a punishing look before letting Nate's hand go. She leaned over to whisper into Nate's ear. "He thought you were a stalker peering into the window, he wanted to call the cops. I proved him wrong and saved your arse."

Nate turned pink, they had noticed him staring? Wow, he was looking like the biggest creep on the face of the planet. "Uh, thanks." Nate whispered back.

"No problem." She replied, absentmindedly scanning the few aisles for a familiar brown head. "Hey, look. There's Frankie."

They found him staring at a wide selection of gumballs, sour keys, and gummy bears...

"I love these!" Alex and Nate cried out excitedly at the same time as they reached for the fork carefully placed into the container of gummy bears.

"Wow, you actually have good taste for once." Alex observed, faking shock.

Nate scoffed at her dramatic ways. "The green ones are the best."

Alex coughed. "I take back that compliment. The purple ones are the best."

"You will never change my mind on this one Alex Russo, the green ones _are _the best." Nate stated defiantly.

"The purple ones are grape. What are the green ones supposed to be? Booger flavoured?" Alex pulled a disgusted face just to make a point.

"EW!" Frankie cried out and Nate snorted. "I don't know what flavour they are. They taste good, and besides green's my favourite colour."

"Still, horrible." Alex faked a gag as they filled their bags and turned their attention towards an indecisive Frankie.

"Should I get the jawbreakers or the sour keys? Uh, which to choose, which to choose. I can't make up my mind!" Frankie cried out as if the apocalypse had just been announced.

Alex smiled at his cuteness and Nate patted his back in a brother - like manner. "Come on, dude, just choose one already."

"I'm not sure .. but .. uh.. OOH, LOOK!" He pointed to one corner of the store where multi coloured cotton candy was being displayed. There was a small paper sign that noted it was fresh made. "I'll get one of those."

Alex crossed her arms and shook her head. "Could this town get anymore random?"

"Not sure, but let's go pay." Nate elbowed her, playfully.

"Kay." She grabbed his small bag of green gummy bears and Nate opened his mouth, about to protest. She carried their items to the counter and gestured Frankie to hurry up and choose.

_Brad scanned them out and looked back up at her, winking. "That'll be $15.37, mosquito spray included."_

"Thanks." Alex replied, counted out $16 and placed it on the counter. "Keep the change."

"Thanks. And I hope to see you soon, I'll give you a discount more often." Brad wiggled his eyebrows as she gave him a fake smile, wrapped her hand around Frankie's neck and pulled both the boys out.

"You don't like that guy, do you Alex?" Frankie piped up in an interrogating tone as he reached for his pink bag.

"Meh." Alex shrugged her shoulders. She really didn't want to too indepth about somebody who didn't matter to her.

But ... Nate took the shrugging of her shoulders as a sign for something else.

_______________________________

They rode home in silence, Nate giving Alex the occasional glance and her look back at him in confusion. Frankie sensed the whole awkwardness of the situation and laughed. Teenagers. Once they got back to the house, he drove into the shed first and came out quickly, yawning. "I think I'm going to go take a nap. Thanks for the cotton candy, Allie."

"You're welcome." Alex replied, noticing that he'd just given her a nickname.

"See you guys later!" Frankie waved before bouncing into the house.

"Wait .. !" Nate called after him, but it was too late, Frankie was long gone.

The two stood their awkwardly, staring at the door. Both wanting to go in and do their own thing but both also wanting to spend time with each other.

"I had fun today." Alex said after a long pause.

"Yea, I did too." Nate slowly replied.

"Mmhmm..." Alex hummed quietly, looking up to stare back at the house.

"So ... How long you been boarding?" Nate asked, gesturing towards the skateboard in her hand.

"I don't know. A couple years. It helps in New York, with concrete sidewalks and all, not a lot of spaces for bikes." She stated. She finally looked up at him. "Do you know how?"

"To skateboard? No. My brothers learned. I never." Nate shook his head. He looked up just in time to see the mischievious expression on her face. "What?"

"I'm gonna teach you how." Alex stated.

"What?" Nate cried out.

"Yup, not like there's anything else we could do right now. Anyways, skateboarding's cool, you might like." Alex explained as she gently pushed him towards the shed.

After taking a long time to choose a skateboard, he chose one with a silhouette of a black guitar on a red background. They found a perfect place, by a shallow slope.

"Okay. Now, place one foot on the board. Your dominant one." Alex order as she dropped her board beside his.

Nate obeyed. "Okay good."

She placed her foot on her board as well. "Now, since you're a noob, and I'm not sure if you're good with balance, hold your hands in the air."

Nate nodded and slowly lifted his arms.

"Nice. Now, slowly push away with your other foot."

... No movement coming from Nate. Just heavy breathing.

"Come on Nate."

"No."

"You can do it. You do like backflips on stage, just push yourself off the ground."

"How do you know?"

"You're always on tv .. unfortunately. Anyways, go on."

"Mmmm..."

"Nate!"

"Unnghh..."

After the annoying banter, Alex sighed. She really wanted Nate to do this. Alex Russo always finished what she started, and she was planning on teaching him how to skateboard. She pulled his hand in her own, and fiddled with his fingers. "Don't worry, I'm here. I'll make sure you're okay. And look, I'll even go down the slope with you." She whispered hoarsely, in a way he found soothing.

"Fine." He relented as he gripped her hand tightly, and cautiously pushed himself away. Alex followed and he still held on to her. Speed was collecting and he could fill the wind find it's way between the gaps in their fingers. The soft blur of the barns and picket fences gave him the same feeling that he got when he stepped onto that stage. He grinned as he counted the seconds go by, meaning he'd survived that long already.

He lifted his head to look up at Alex. She was smiling and alternating her careful stares from the road in front of them and their hands clasped together. She looked up at him and smiled. And he held his breath, is it possible for your breath to be taken away by a girl? He studied her features, her cute little nose, her shiny lips, her warm yet intriguing espresso coloured eyes. And then he noticed them sloop down as her eyes widened. "Nate, look out!"

He didn't understand. Look out for what? And then he suddenly realized what she meant by that. He finally looked up after seemingly a long time. The first thing he saw, a dark brown puddle of mud, right in front of him. And yet, he let his body betray him by not doing anything.

They flew into the air, their hands finally letting go, their boards stopped by an invisible shield. And then he could feel himself, surrounded by a thick layer of mud. He was prepared to hear a girly screech from Alex but all that came was a groan.

"I tell you, this place has the randomest things. I mean, a friggin' mud puddle, in the middle of nowhere."

And all Nate could do was groan in agreement and reach out, reach out for something. Something that just happened to be her hand.

_______________________________

"Dude, I can't wait to take a shower." Alex laughed as she pushed the door open. "I feel so disgusting."

"You look it too." Nate teased as he followed close behind.

She turned to face him and cross her arms. "Ha ha." He ran his hand through his hair, only to splatter leftover mud on her face. "Oh, pft, thanks."

They had hosed each other off on the porch but were still pretty muddy. Nate didn't mind the mud though, he was a guy. Alex didn't mind either, she wasn't afraid to get down and dirty.

"Your big hair still has a shizload of mud though." Alex leapt forward to run her hands through his hair, fascinatedly.

"It has a life of his own sometimes." He laughed.

They heard the creak of a step and looked up the staircase to find a Dolly, staring at them with the biggest smirk on her face at the sight of the two of them getting along. "You two got dirty, what happened?"

"Tried to teach the fuzzhead how to skateboard. He was alright for the most part, till he steered us right into a puddle of mud." Alex rolled her eyes at Nate.

"Heavens!" Another voice cried from the top of the staircase. Denise quickly made it to the bottom of the stairs. "What happened?"

Dolly gave both of them a knowing look before turning to answer her daughter. "Didn't you hear dear? They were skateboarding."

Nate turned a pink and Alex avoided everyone by staring at the ground awkwardly.

Denise opened her mouth again, but paused when her mother smiled at her, it told her everything. "Oh, I see. Okay, guys. Go clean up then. Showers. We're having a bonfire in the backyard at 6. Dad is in one already, so you'll guys have to take turns sharing the other one. Go."

Nate and Alex nodded as they slowly made their way up the stairs.

"Teenagers." Denise shook her head and smiled at the same time, as if she knew a secret. "Let's go mum."

_______________________________

Alex stood outside the bathroom door, leaning on the banner. Nate had rushed into the bathroom first. What a girl. He'd been in there 10 minutes already, how much time did the guy need?

And in those ten minutes, he'd sang Superstition, Summer of 69', and The Way I Are. She laughed as she heard his renditions of each one. He even attempted the girls solo in The Way I Are. And he probably didn't even know that she could hear him sing. She quietly sang along to the songs under her breath. She knew all the lyrics by heart, funny how they had a lot in common. He moved onto another one and it took Alex a while to figure out. She didn't think he'd know this one. It was About a Girl by The Academy Is ... And Alex only knew this because her distant cousin Mitchie forced her to listen to this repetitively.

_One song, about a girl,_

_Can't breathe, when I'm around her,_

_I wait here everday, in case she'll scratch the surface,_

_she'll never notice ...._

_I'm not in love,_

_This is not my heart,_

_I'm not gonna waste these words, _

_About a girl._

And then oddly enough, he moved back to the first verse and repeated it. Alex shrugged and followed along. And then his singing abruptly stopped with the water. The door slammed open quickly and he emerged, a towel wrapped along the lower part of his body and his curls plastered to his forehead.

Alex's eyes widened as she tried to step back and take him in, only to be resisted by the banner. She tried peeling her eyes away after she had realized she had been staring at his body for too long. She lowered her head and scratched her neck awkwardly. "Yea, uhm, just waiting for you to .. uh .. be done. Yea. Okay. Go then."

He smirked as he watched a bumbling Alex try to avoid looking at him as she stepped into the bathroom. He laughed as he called through the door. "I guess we're even then, huh?"

_______________________________

Alex stepped out into the cool night air and breathed it in, catching a whiff of her own spray. She coughed, she did smell manly. Oh well, it'd probably pay off tonight. She rubbed her bare forearms as she followed a small trail to the backyard. After taking a warm shower, she wanted to change into something simple and pretty. So she chose a light beige tank top, and shorts with a frayed end. She chose her keds, and finished with a little gold charm bracelet, and was all good to go. (**polyvore. com/ campfire_cute/set?id=7094643**)

The campfire wasn't that hard to spot and she started walking towards it, picking up her pace. She quietly cursed herself for being late, the whole family was already there, seated on carefully carved logs around a blazing fire. The Grey parents were bundled in a blanket, whispering each other loving words. Dolly was pinching a blushing Kevin's cheeks. And Shane's mouth was wide open, gawking at something that Frankie had said. Nate was the lone one, sitting on a log by himself. He was staring intensely at the fire and looked up, just in time to see her. His eyes gave a glimpse of acknowledgement before looking back into the fire. Alex shrugged it off and stealthily tiptoed behind Dolly, giving her a hug from behind.

"Now, who on earth could that be?!" Dolly asked with mock sarcasm."I bet it's my little firecracker!"

"Firecracker, huh? Nice. How'd you come up with it?" Alex smiled as she slid in beside Dolly.

"Because, Alex, you're a tad explosive sometimes, sparky even. But you're still dangerously beautiful." Dolly whispered with an obvious tone in her voice.

"Ah, I see." Alex giggled as she hugged Dolly once more.

"So, what've you been doing today?" Dolly asked, that 'look' on her face.

Alex's eyes widened as she smirked. "You could totally be cupids little spy."

"Stop changing the subject, dear." Dolly scolded her teasingly.

"Okay, fine. I attempted to bike. Failed. Skateboarded into town. Bought Candy. Came back. And taught Nate how to skateboard. It was okay, I guess." Alex gave her a brief summary, skipping the parts where she lied and told some guy that Nate was her boyfriend, and where they held hands in the mud.

"Fine, skip the flirty little details then. I'll figure it out somehow, dear, I always do." Dolly smiled.

Alex scoffed and smiled. Her eyes wandered over to Jason, who was strumming a couple chords on his guitar. "Are you writing a song?" She piped up, breaking Jason's trance.

"The tune anyway, I don't do the lyrics. Nate does. And Shane helps him. But then we all get inspired days and we all work on a few." Jason explained quickly, looking up from his guitar.

"Nate writes most of the music?" She asked curiously. She covered her mouth when she saw Nate lift his head to look at her.

Jason didn't seem to notice. "Yea, he does. He's a genius with lyrics actually. A lot of his songs are inspired. His new ones are kind of sadder though. Ever since ... " Jason stared into space, trailing off. "Never mind."

"No. Since when?" Alex asked, somewhat concerned.

"You'll have to ask him." Jason winked.

"Pft." She crossed her arms and leaned back onto Dolly.

Dolly smiled and stroked her head softly. They lay there for a few minutes before clearing her throat. "I don't think this log is big enough to fit us, kids."

"Uh ... I can move, Gramma." Jason bent down to pick up his guitar but Dolly grabbed his arm.

"No Jason. You were here first." She smiled and winked at Jason. "Let Alex move."

"Ohh..." Jason slowly nodded. "Okay."

"What?" Alex grumbled. She knew what they were up to. She shook her head disapprovingly at them before moving to the other vacant spot, beside Nate.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hey." Came his one word reply, he didn't even bother to acknowledge her with a look.

She inwardly debated on what to do. To ask if he was okay. In the end, she just let him be. Maybe she'd talk to him when he was more open. So she followed his lead and started staring at the fire too. Minutes passed until Mr. Grey cleared his throat.

"Hey gang. We're here to celebrate each others company and take a little breather before the busy day scheduled tomorrow. So, we've got sausages, buns, sticks, marshmallows, chocolates, and every condiment known to man."

Shane cheered loudly, his stomach rumbling along with him.

"And as my lovely wife, mother to most of you guys, pours your hot chocolate, let's make a toast. To a wonderful woman thats been here with us all these years. To Dolly!"

Everybody lifted their mugs in unison called 'Cheers' and lifted them to their mouths, gulping the sweet hot chocolate. Everyone clambered to get their food and ate happily, some conversing with others. Nate and Alex just stared into the fire like absolute loners. And when everyone was happily filled food and sweets, Mrs. Grey cleared her throat.

"Okay guys. Here's the deal. I know some of us have stuff that we'd like to perform to Gramma, songs, poems, stories that we've dedicated to her. So if you'd like to present them now, it'd be the perfect time. Frankie proudly presented her with a drawing of him and her riding off into the sunset with a dragon. Jason played and Shane sang an original song. Mr and Mrs. Grey sang a small duet professionally. Alex observed that they skipped mopey Nate and went straight to her.

She smiled, flustered. "I have nothing prepared."

"Oh, pft. It can be anything, honey. A cover of a song even." Denise protested.

"Well... I actually have a song I wrote a week ago. I wrote it for Dolly, it's called The Best Day. But .. I need a guitar." Alex relented slowly.

"At your service." Jason beamed then handed his baby over.

"Okay then. Here it is ... " Alex took a breath and strummed a few chords before opening her mouth. She let the words pour out, inspired by Dolly's encouraging facial expression. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nate look up at her.

_I may be sixteen but I have my .. big coat on,_

_I look up at you and laugh, we smile and walk on and on,_

_Past the fountain of people, but you're the one that shines like gold,_

_You lean on me and almost fall asleep , on the way home._

_I don't know why all the trees change in the fall,  
I know you're not scared of anything at all,  
Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away,_

_But I know I had the best day ... with you today._

Dolly's expression softened and she stared at Alex, as if she were clinging onto every word that Alex had said. Frankie had gone to cuddle with his parents and Shane and Jason were staring at her. Nate sat up now, attention fully focused on her.

_I'm a juvenile 16 and I don't know how boys can be so mean,_

_I come to you crying, you hold me tight and talk to me,_

_And we knit and knit till our hands almost fall of that day,_

_And we bake and talk and talk till I forgot all their names,_

_I don't know who else to talk to while I'm away from you,_

_I know I'm still thinking of the day I had with you,_

_Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay,_

_But I know I had the best day, with you .. today._

_I have excellent parents,_

_Their faith is making me stronger,_

_God smiles on my 2 brothers,_

_Inside and out, _

_they're better than I am._

_I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run and I,_

_I had the best day with you._

_And I know this is just a song written by me,_

_But it's written for somebody absolutely lovely,_

_And I don't know what I'd do with any more scarves,_

_But I love it when you call me the prettiest girl in the whole wide world.._

Dolly was now on the verge of her tears and her daughter softly patted her on the back.

_Now I know why all the trees change in the fall,_

_I knew you were on my side even when I was wrong,_

_And I love you for giving me your eyes,_

_For staying back and helping me shine,_

_And I didn't know if you knew,_

_So I'm taking the chance to say,_

_That I had the best day with you today._

When she had finished strumming, she looked back up. Dolly was crying and Denise was as well. Mr. Grey was staring at her intently and Frankie had fallen asleep across his fathers lap. Shane and Jason were staring at her in awe, and Nate was staring at _her _intensely. It took a few moments before they started clapping.

Dolly stood up and walked over to Alex, enveloping her in a big hug. "That was a beautiful song. I'm expecting you to record it in someway or always play it for me."

"That can be arranged." Mr. Grey spoke up. "You're actually very talented, Alex."

"Dude, he's right. You were really good." Shane cut in. "I almost cried."

"Better than something I could've ever written, and your guitar handiwork was so pro." Jason commented.

Mr. Grey spoke up. "We could record that song as a demo. It's a song that definitely has to be heard."

"Agreed, dear." Denise finally spoke.

"Well, I'm not sure." Alex blushed at the prospect of her song being recorded professionally.

"Think about it." He advised her. Alex nodded and resumed her laid back position on the log, handing the guitar back to Kevin.

Everybody resumed back to their conversations. Alex had noticed Nate hadn't said anything about the song. He was on his back now, looking up at the stars. Alex shuffled over so that she was right beside him. They were quiet, until Nate broke the silence. "It was a really beautiful song you know, better than any song I could've written."

"Thank you. But don't say that. Even though some of your music is bubblegum crap, some of lyrics are genius," Alex protested, defending his music.

"It's okay. I haven't written anything that good lately." Nate remarked.

Alex paused before she rolled onto her side, staring at his profile. She played with his curly brown locks. "What happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Came his silent reply.

"You were happier earlier. Something else must have happened between then and now. I mean, you're not acting pigheaded like you usually do." She explained.

There was a long awkward pause, where Alex just stared at him, waiting for an answer.

Nate finally replied after what seemed like 5 minutes. "I heard a song on the radio. From my ex, _The 7 things I hate about you, you're vain, your games, you're insecure ... _"

"Oh, Hannah Cyrus?" Alex asked, twiddling the curls between both of her fingers. They brushed slightly over his ear.

"Yeah. We dated for awhile. We were the royalty of the Teenybops, you could say. I just thought that .. I was in love with her, you know? And it hurt that she had to tell the world what she thought of me." He finally rolled over to his side, so he could face her. They stared at each other, faces dangerously close.

"No, I don't know how it feels like. I can't say I can. I've never been 'in love'. I've never been looked up to by millions of teens. So I can't honestly say I know how it feels. But I have had crushes, and I'm guessing what you're going through is a million times worse than what I go through when they pass me and head for the cheerleader table." Alex took a pause, wondering why she'd just told him that. She decided to go on anyways. "You're heartbroken, betrayed, confused, and lost. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry you feel that way. I do." She ended with a whisper at the last part.

Nate sighed. "I don't think I'll fall in love again."

"Oh wow. My consoling speech was that bad, huh?" Alex laughed, trying to ease up the moment.

Nate shook his head and smiled. "No, it was great. It's just. It hurts too much."

Alex kept quiet for a minute before looking back into his eyes. "Nate, Don't hate me for suggesting. But .. was it really love? I mean, I don't know how to tell, but you can't give up on love if you're not sure you've felt it."

"I don't know. I think it was." Nate said thoughtfully.

Alex's lips scrunched together to make a face. Not an expression that judged him. Just a face that was waiting for him to say something.

He laughed before reaching for her hand, their fingers intertwined. "The boys go for the cheerleaders, huh? They must be crazy to pass you up."

"What? Oh, pfft." Alex giggled. "A lot of people can't handle my stubborn and obnoxious behaviour. I guess that's the price of being me."

"Don't change, please don't. Even though you are a bit of a snob sometimes..." Nate trailed off, teasing her.

"Ha ha, fuzzhead. You know, you sing really loudly in the shower." Alex recalled, trying to embarass him.

"You heard that?" Nate turned the familiar pink.

"Mmhmm." Alex nodded with a yawn. "Not .." She stopped to yawn again. "a bad taste of music."

She tried breathing in his scent, but instead caught her musk again. "Ungh, I smell like a man."

Nate leaned in closer and took a whiff of her neck before pulling back. "I think you smell good."

Alex gave him a tired smile but managed to reply sarcastically. "Sure, fuzzhead." She moved her hand on top of his head to play with his curls and leaned in to smell his neck. "You smell good too."

"Thanks. You know .. Alex Russo." He moved his hand up to hers, which was still resting on his head, and held it as he turned to look at the stars. "You're wonderful when you're not being obnoxious." He waited for a snort or a reply but when he looked down he already found her sleeping. She shivered and he took off his jacket and carefully placed it over her before settling back to his former position. Face to face, inches apart, they fell asleep.

_______________________________

"Okay guys, that's the last of it." Denise smiled with a yawn as she picked up the last remaining mugs. Her husband had taken in a sleeping Frankie already and Dolly retired early.

"What about the love birds, mom?" Shane asked, pointing towards Alex and Nate, huddled closely together, their legs wrapped together.

Denise stopped to look at the both of them, the fire flickered off of them, exposing their peaceful and happy facial features. "Leave them be, but Jason, go get a blanket."

"Aight, mommy." He rushed in.

"What if they get raped?" Shane piped up, ruining the heartfelt moment.

"Oh hush, Shane. We're in the middle of nowhere."

Jason returned quickly with a huge blanket knitted by Dolly. They quietly covered Nate and Alex and left them be under the sky of twinkling stars and in front of the flickering fire that was keeping them warm apart from each other.

_______________________________

**Haha guys. So that was really long, it took me long to write.**

**The next one should be up before I leave which is in three weeks.**

**: ) I hope you all liked it? Didn't? Review. **

**Warning: It get's fluffier. : ) And feel free to PM me!**

**I love talking to you guys. PM me your stories if you'd like me to R&R.**


	7. Chapter 7 : Just Pretend?

**A/N**: Yea, so here's the 7th Chapter? Oh wow, wow, wow. 2 Months. I've been really busy lately. I moved, my computer crashed, and my summer was pretty packed, then I came back to school and I have a new obsession. This guy. Like, he's just so amazing. I've been trying to figure out how to talk to him and everything but it seems like I should just sing Invisible to him instead. This chapter was originally supposed to be longer, but it's 11 pages. Major Writers block here guys, so I'm really sorry if it's horrible.

**Inspiration**: Ha ha, you guys. And old people. I love old people. But when I say it bluntly like that, it sounds creepy.

**Disclaimer**: NOOOOO. Except the plot.

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**My reviewers are the awesomest people in the world.**

**I actually don't know if they're still here.. since it's been 2 months,**

**but they need to know I love them. Ack, this is why I hate**

**writing long stories. I always feel like I let you guys down.**

_Incywincyspider, Christine Nichole, x3OJDx3, .., Christina Renee,_

_hopl3ssr0mant1c, .Xo, amazcyn, Zialicious, Taylaaa,SeddieIsTheShiz,_

_MusicalSoul3000, loveyoumeanitbye, ashnspence4eva, ., lewstar13, xXLoveBeingDifferentXx, Jclayton, youfailx, HPDanEmma, SourirexBeau, speedy1028, camirae,_

_xXHeadInTheStarsxx, xxVICTORIAxx, BlueChic, xoxlovinglovexox, ride2night, MeantToBe16, emveethroughthedoor, Living The Dream Baby, djdangerlove-x_

**Sorry if I missed anyone?**

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**& the cover.**

h t t p : / / i 4 4 . t i n y p i c . c o m / x c p 0 r 4 . p n g 

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**Just Pretend to be my Boyfriend**

_This is dedicated to my 100__th__ reviewer! I actually, don't know how to tell and I get so mixed up when I count, but I'm pretty sure it's lewstar13! _

_Oh, and sunshinnee. (:  
_

_

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Alex was surrounded by orange. A pale orange. A place where she couldn't see anything else, but orange. But she could smell. It was then she realized that her eyes were still closed. Her eyelids clenched tightly before opening, only to be staring at a sleeplessly snoring Nate. She blinked. _What the hell happened? Why on earth am I lying beside stupid popstar, Naa-- _And it all came flooding back to her. The day before. The skateboarding, the biking, the candy, the talk about love. And she couldn't suppress the smile on her face and the giggle she let out, though she knew she should be scoffing. She slowly brought her hand up, carefully as to not push his own arm that was wrapped around her body off. She gingerly waved her hand in front of his face. Nothing. Nate was a heavy sleeper. Her fingers nimbly reached up for his softly curled brown locks. They held a curl that had been dangling in front of his face and curled them gently. _If only he didn't have a career in horribly shallow music, maybe then he'd be way cooler. Ha, if he wasn't pigheaded as well. _

She held her breath as Nate's breathing pattern changed. His brows lifted and the corners of his mouth lifted in a goofy grin, his cheeks turned pink. _What the? He blushes in his sleep! Haha, I totally have this on him. _She nestled into the log and lay there, just staring at Nate. His features, his breathing, those cute little moles on the side of his neck. Alex was good at noticing small things like that. And right now, just staring at him. She could only think of one adjective. Beautiful. He was beautiful. _Whoa? Is it okay for a guy to be beautiful? _She laughed and suppressed a yawn. Stretching her arms, she heard the faint mumblings of a male conversation from a distance. She carefully pushed Nate's arm off her small frame and sat up, turning around slowly. The garden had been transformed. There were tables, round tables, covered with pale cream table cloths. Each had centerpieces, bouquet's of carefully arranged yellow roses and other various wild flowers. Alex looked up, she and Nate were shielded by the dome of a tarp that had been elegantly tied up to look like something more. What was going on? Her eyes shot to where the voices had been. Jason and Shane, talking with the biggest smirks plastered onto their faces. They were clearly staring at Nate and Alex.

She shot them a quick glare before turning back to Nate. He really was beautiful ... weird. She didn't want to interrupt his sleep so she stealthily pulled herself onto her knees and quietly stood up. Her hands automatically flew to her hair. She felt tangles everywhere. _Not good. _She curiously sniffed her arm as well. _Omigod, ew. I am disgusting. _She shuddered and reluctantly left angelic Nate. She glared at Jason and Shane as she made her way closer to the house.

"What are you sissies laughing at?" She growled under her breath, and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"You two." Jason raised his eyebrows and replied in a cutesy 'duh' tone.

"Saps, all of you." She groaned as she left the both of them, stepping through the screen of the backdoor only to hear Shane's exclaimation.

"At least you didn't get raped!"

Alex settled herself on a chair at the kitchen table that was still stocked with bagels and jars of peanut butter and jam. She quickly dispensed her jams and bit into her bagel, relishingly.

"How was your night?"

Alex jumped at the voice and turned to find Denise.

Alex politely shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. The bonfire was fun."

The corner of Denise's mouth twitched with amusement. "Did you have a good nights rest?"

Alex raised her eyebrow, but decided to ignore her insinuation. "The best sleep you can get on a log."

"Alright then." Denise smiled as she sipped her tea.

An awkward silence came over the two of them and Alex cleared her throat. "Is there anything happening today? What's up with the tables?"

Denise froze and concern fogged her eyes, she let out a quiet gasp. "Did nobody tell you? O my gosh, I'm so sorry dear. We're having Dolly's formal birthday dinner today. We're just shipping in family and a few close family friends, some from the Villa. Oh my..." She paused to take a breath and stared out into space for awhile before slowly replying. "It is a formal kind of get together. Did you pack anything? If you haven't I could just loan you an old dress of mine..."

"No, no it's okay. I think I might've packed something just in case. Thank you so much, though." Alex replied quickly before chewing her last bit of the bagel and jumping off her chair. She gave Denise a little wave before bounding up the stairs and into the room she was staying in. She jumped onto the bed and sighed, feeling the comfort of the welcoming cotton sheets. After what seemed like hours, she rolled over and walked to the wardrobe. She didn't know what she'd do about the dress but she'd think about it later, right now all she wanted to do was change out of her dirty clothes and take a nice cold shower. She grabbed a towel and made a dash to the bathroom, hopped in and didn't take 10 minutes before she wrapped herself in the towel and proceeded to the room. After taking 10 minutes to blow dry and do her hair, she shuffled through her clothes, eyes lighting up when she found something she felt like wearing that she hadn't in a long time. Her shirt with the words written, 'I Love My City' and her denim button up shorts. She skipped to her dresser, opened the drawer, and pulled out a small jewellery box. She carefully examined each piece but decided on a pair of dark chandelier earrings and a series of small pendant necklaces. She slipped on some gold gladiators and examined herself in the mirror. _Perfect._ And then she remembered something else she packed. She ran to the closet, pulled her light blue scarf from a shelf and wrapped it around her neck. Now, It was perfect. _**Picture (http : **__**//www . Polyvore . Com / meeting_dolly_chapter_seven / set? Id= 8147445)**_

Alex hummed contently, wondering where everyone in the house was. She was on her way out when she stopped to look at herself in the mirror again. But really .. look at herself.

"Ew, Why do I look so plain?" She scrunched up her nose in slight disgust and reached for her make up pouch in her purse. She rarely ever put any on, but today, she felt like she had to. She applied some dark eyeliner and mascara and swiped some peach lipgloss on her lips. She paused, looking at herself again. She did look pretty. She smiled at herself once more, before leaving the room.

______________

"_**Yea, Nate. I don't think this is going to work anymore. I just don't feel it anymore... I've kinda found someone else." The girl her bottom lip awkwardly, as she crossed her leg over on the couch.**_

_**Nate froze as the words slipped out of her mouth slowly. He turned his head, eyes desperately clinging onto hers. "What? We could always make time for each other .. I don't understand .. this is kind of .."**_

"_**Unexpected? Well, yea, I don't know. I've been thinking about it for awhile .. so .. bye ..." Hannah stood up to leave.**_

"_**I thought you loved me." He called out in a last attempt.**_

_**Hannah laughed bitterly. "You thought that was love?" She gave him the most menacing smile as she slipped into the darkness.**_

"_**Wait!" He called out once more, jumping onto his feet. He grabbed her arm before she was nothing. "We're perfect for each other." He spun her towards him in a dance – like manner, enveloping her into his arms. "What. Are. You. Talking. About?!" She growled, in an annoyed tone.**_

_**Nate's eyes immediately flew open and he slowly looked down to see who he was hugging. It wasn't Hannah. She was gone. It was Alex.**_

Nate's eyes flew open and he shot right up, taking a deep breath. _What a weird dream. _He calmed himself before looking around. Where was he? Oh right, last night, the party ... Alex. She was nowhere to be found. He examined the yard once more. Tables were laid everywhere with bouquets of yellow roses everywhere. It looked like it had been raining flowers. It looked so magical. He smiled, only to notice two figures that ruined the whole scene. Jason and Shane not standing far off, just staring at him and whispering things to each other. Nate rolled his eyes as he yawned. Slowly he stood up and began to walk towards the house.

"Hey." Jason called out, giving him the fakest smile ever.

"What's up? What are you doing?" Shane whistled then gave him a cheeky grin.

"Being a man. Mom and dad need at least one son." He replied smoothly as he breezed into the house.

"Hey mom." He noticed his mother eating at the breakfast table by herself on his way up the stairs.

"Hello Nate." She winked at him.

He groaned as he proceeded up the stairs.

"Don't forget tonight!" She reminded him and he grunted in reply.

His pace quickened and he jumped up the last few stairs only to almost run into a very surprised Alex.

"Ouch, watch where you're going!" Alex snapped, fixing her hair.

Nate opened his mouth and paused, looking at her. "Are you wearing make up?"

Alex looked completely thrown off for a second before she raised a brow and crossed her arms. "Maybe. Yes. Why?" She asked suspiciously.

"Just wondering. You look fine without it." Nate nodded awkwardly, stating his observation.

"Uh ... Thanks?" She smiled slowly.

Silence. Awkward silence as Nate scratched the back of his head.

"Is anyone in the shower?" Nate asked, breaking the silence.

"Nope. I just got out. Hey, could I borrow your guitar for a minute?"

"Sure. I'm going to go take a shower. It's in my room, just put it back when you're done." Nate consented, yawning as he walked into the bathroom.

Alex nodded and waited for him to shut his door before she quietly pushed his bedroom door open.

She couldn't help but let her eyes wander. It wasn't too messy for a guy. Sheets of paper were everywhere on the floor and on his table. A fairly large selection of guitars were set in one corner and his plaid bedspread lay messily on the bed. She sighed as she walked over to the guitars beside his bed. She examined each one, they were all so beautiful. After choosing a dark red acoustic, she lifted it up, her gaze dropping to the stand. And it was then that she noticed a magazine tucked under his bed. _Ew, ew, ew, horndog. _She scrunched her nose in disgust. She didn't guess Nate would've been that type. But she noticed there were pictures of teens on the cover. Nate and his brothers, Hannah, Sonni, and many others she'd seen on tv. She picked it up and read the big title on the front. **TEENSQUEAL: Connect 3 Edition! Find out everything about the Grey hotties!**

"Wow. And he says I have a big ego." She muttered under her breath, sitting down and starting to flip through the pages. He was too busy in the shower. He'd never notice anyways. She stopped at a page of Nate grinning. She quickly made out the large text on the next page.

**Basics**

**Height: 5'8**

**Hair Colour: Brown**

**Eye Colour: Brown**

**Birthday: Sept 17, 1992**

**Fave Food: Steak**

**Fave Colour: Green**

She flipped to the next page and notice it was speckled with darker coloured spots. She was curious as to why they were there and then she finally noticed the article. A picture of angelic looking Hannah Cyrus with large text beside her face. **I don't need a boy. My last boyfriend was so needy, it was pathetic! **And that's when Alex realized what the darker coloured spots were. Tears. She read through the article quickly. It was Hannah going on and on about a 'pathetic, spineless ex' and how she never even had feelings for him. Alex frowned as she shook her head, casting a deadly stare at the blonde. She shut the magazine quickly and shoved it back under the bed. She grabbed the guitar and brought it back to her room, shoving thoughts of Nate and his problem aside. She had set her mind to do something that morning and she was going to do it.

______________

"Hey, are you done?" Nate loudly rapped his fist on the door between their two rooms.

A muffled sound came through the door. "Yea, almost done. Wait a sec."

He waited about five and a half minutes before she slowly opened the door and quietly placed the guitar in it's rightful place. She sighed as she stood up straight. Nate laying on his bed, quickly studied her face. It was somewhat puffy and red. "Have you been crying?"

"What?" Alex looked momentarily thrown off, her eyebrows knit in mock confusion. "No!"

"Oh, okay. Just wondering."

"Why? Shit. Is my face puffy?" She brushed by his bed and to his mirror, pinching her cheeks.

"You look perfect. I told you last night that you always look perfect." Nate quietly replied, staring at her earnestly.

Alex's eyes shot to him on the bed. "You remember that? I thought you were drunk off all the marshmallows." She laughed, easing the tension.

"Yea." Nate shrugged. "I remember. Still doesn't change the fact that I think you're a butthead most of the time."

Alex rolled her eyes and grinned. "Gee, thanks." She pried herself away from the mirror and dropped herself on the corner of his bed.

"Let's go do something." Nate blurted out, staring at the side profile of her face. He quickly looked away as she turned her head.

"Any suggestions, tool?" She asked, as she let out a low throaty groan of satisfaction after sinking her back into the bed at his feet.

"I don't know .. anything?"

"Something that doesn't involve skateboarding. You suck, dude. And I'm being nice." Alex honestly retorted, with her eyes closed.

Nate rolled his eyes, a slow grin spreading upon his face. "I have an idea."

Alex didn't reply, just scrunched up her face in irritation thinking about he possibly could've come up with. "I'm not playing Scrabble, you nerd."

"Nope. Come on, loser." He jumped up and pulled her hand, bringing her to her feet. "Follow me."

Alex huffed something under her breath as she followed him down the stairs, ignoring the romantic insinuating stares from his family in the living room. He quickly walked over to the shed outside and motioned her to stay. She waited a minute before seeing him bring out this monstrosity. "Ohmygod, you can not be serious!" Her eyes widened in disbelief that something so tacky could still exist.

"Come on, it's only a two seater bike." Nate smiled cheesily and hopefully. Inwardly, he was still laughing at yesterday, her falling off and biting the dust repetitively.

"It's completely nerdy ... what else would I expect from you." She laughed, squinting in the unbelievingly strong sunlight.

"Fine, what ever. You're too lame to know how to ride a bike anyways." Nate muttered under his breath.

"Reverse psychology doesn't work on me, buddy." Alex glared, sticking her toungue out for only a second.

"Fine, but it'd be entertaining ..." Nate tried sounding promising.

"You are a shit. Let's go." Alex swore under her breath as she firmly grabbed the handle bars at the front.

"Uh, no. Over there, passenger seat." Nate quickly waved her away. "You can barely pedal, more or less steer."

"But that's even nerdier!" Alex quickly protested. Nate ignored her and she slid onto her seat.

"Let's do this." Nate smiled, making a silent prayer quietly in his head.

____________

"How can you fall off a two seater bike when you're sitting in the back seat?!" Nate cried out, coughing up the dust that blew into his mouth.

Alex scowled as she semi – limped behind him. "I don't know. Apparently there are a ton of ways."

Nate sighed, running his hands through his curls. Dust flew everywhere. "At least, you kind of got it that last time. We rode for like, a minute."

"Epic fail." She mumbled under her breath as they locked up the bike in the shed and stepped on the porch. "But I will get it, I tell you."

He chuckled as he pushed the door open, exposing their dusty selves in front of a kitchen of bustling people. Everyone looked up momentarily before getting back to their work. A dozen or so people, clad in crisp white aprons, were preparing food, cleaning dishes, and barking orders at each other.

Alex laughed as she followed Nate to the foot of the stairs, but paused to catch Shane, leaning on the wall coolly, talking to some girl in a white apron. She had reddish brown blunt bangs sweeping across her forehead, hiding her bright brown eyes. She had a smile plastered on her face and giggled at something Shane had just said. Alex raised her eyebrows and smirked. She leaned forward, patting an unsuspecting Shane on the shoulder, earning a curious glance from the girl.

"Thought you should know, he PMS' like a bitch. And spends around 3 hours in the bathroom working on his hair. But you guys have fun!" She gave the girl one last warning and smile and bounded up the stairs, following a chuckling Nate.

She fell on Nate's bed and yawned in an exhausted manner. Nate lay down beside her and stared at the ceiling. They didn't say a word. Nate opened his mouth and hesitated, he turned his neck to look at Alex. Her eyes loosely shut, a soft expression on her face, and heavy breathing. She had fallen asleep. He stared at her. Her angelic face, etching itself into his mind. He smiled.

Her mouth opened. "You are the creepiest person ever, I swear."

Nate's eyes widened as he bolted from his lying position. "I was just .. sleeping."

"With your eyes wide open, staring right at me, and giving me the creepiest smile. Yea, I don't think so buddy." She sighed, as she stood up. She patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, If I were a boy, I'd stare at me too."

He laughed and rolled his eyes. They both sat there in silence.

Alex cleared her throat. "So what time is it?"

"Four. We better start getting ready. People arrive at five. I'm guessing I need to take another shower." Nate laughed, shaking his hair again.

"I see." Alex paused, appearing to meditate on something. She looked at Nate and smirked. "Not if I get to the shower first!" In a second, she jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Leaving a slightly annoyed Nate. He bounded up after her and started banging on the door. "ALEX?!"

_____________________

Alex stuck out her toungue as she emerged from the bathroom. Nate glared as he brushed in past her. She walked into the room, and peered both ways before shutting and locking the knob. She inhaled deeply as she opened the wardrobe. Bringing up her hands in an exaggerated motion, she began uttering a few words.

_Tonight is Dolly's party, and I don't wanna look like the fool,_

_So give me something spunky with class, an outfit that rules!_

It didn't take a second for an entire outfit cased in a plastic bag to appear out of nowhere. Alex squealed as she pulled it from the closet, lay it on the bed, and zipped it open. Her eyes widened. The dress was hot. Bright fiery red and short. It had no straps and the chest was ruffled. The waist nipped in and flowed out, it rested 3 inches above her knee. A small shiny black clutch was tucked into the bag as well, along with a couple of necklaces and earrings. She peered back into the closet. Lying at the bottom was a pair of shiny black ankle boots. "Nice."

She slipped into the dressed, and after a lot of attempts finally zipped it up. She slid into the boots and squirted some perfume onto her neck. She slid the necklaces on and slightly shivered as the cold metal kissed the neck on her skin. She pulled her hair straightener out of her bag and waited patiently for it to heat up, sitting on the edge of the bed. When it was almost done, she moved it onto the dresser and went through her jewelry box for some bobby pins and hairclips. She quickly recited a blow dry spell for her hair, realizing that she had forgotten to pack her hair drier. When that was done, she straightened her naturally curly hair and wound it into a tight updo, keeping it up with several bobby pins and a pretty glimmery hair clip. She used the straightener to curl a few wisps on the sides of her head and flicked the 'off' button, singing 'What to Wear' by Tayla Drift the whole time. Her mother had done her hair like this once for a family dinner, and Alex actually liked the way she looked.

_**Picture ( http : // www . polyvore . com/meeting_dolly_alex_high_heels/set? Id = 8818096)**_

Realizing that her ears were showing, she buried her face into her jewelry box and pulled out pearl studs and gently set them in place. She took her sweet time applying eyeliner, mascara, lipgloss and blush and tucked them into her clutch along with a few other essentials. Perfume, money, ID, her sidekick, lotion, and tissues.

When all that had been completed, she examined herself in the mirror and couldn't help but feel somewhat excited for the night that lay ahead.

_______________

Nate nervously swallowed as he undid the top button of his light pink dress shirt. He didn't even know why he was so goddamned nervous. He stood up on the couch, stretching his legs. He paced around the room, occasionally sneaking glances at Shane flirting with the girl in the kitchen. He let out haughty little chuckles everytime he walked by. Frankie was taking his shower and his mum was in the kitchen, helping out with the caterers. Jason and his father had gone to pick up family friends and Shane .. well , he was in the kitchen. So Nate needed entertainment, even if that meant looking to Alex for it.

He heard her singing from up the staircase and stood up to meet her halfway. He expected her to look beautiful. He didn't expect to see a woman. He froze at the bottom, his eyes as big as saucers, just staring up at her in a mesmerized trance. His mouth opened slightly, trying to soak all of her in. He didn't even think it was possible for her to look so .. classy. This was vulgar Alex Russo, for Christ sakes!

She gave him an awkward smile as she spotted his fazed out facial expression from the top of the staircase. She descended slowly, every step closer and she felt an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach get stronger. She playfully hit his shoulder when she reached the bottom, snapping him out of his trance of disbelief.

"Take a picture buddy, it'll last longer." She smirked, as he tried to regain his composure.

"I wasn't staring at you ... I was thinking.. of all the food that I was going to eat tonight. Mouth wateringly good food.. uh.. yumm."

"You're a terrible liar." She concluded as she wandered off into the kitchen, with him closely following... still staring.

She laughed when she still saw Shane with the girl, but decided on not bothering this time. Heck, this had probably been the farthest he'd gone with a girl. Mrs. Grey looked up from the cake and grinned at her, her eyes lighting up. "Oh my gosh, Alex, you look absolutely stunning!"

Alex felt her cheeks grew hot as Mrs. Grey demanded her to turn around. "Ha, not really. Just something I whipped up. You look gorgeous, Mrs. Grey."

Mrs. Grey blushed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She had decided on a short and simple white dress that had been belted off at the waist, showing off her shape. "Thank you, but I'm still a mother of 4."

"No, she's right mom." Nate spoke up, moving from behind Alex. "You look beautiful." He smiled as he leaned in for a hug.

Alex couldn't help but miss her mom at the moment, maybe she'd phone her tonight or something.

Alex cleared her throat as Nate pulled away from the hug. "Can we help you with the food or anything?"

"Not looking like that! Just go and ..."

"Denise! I can't find the candles ... oh damnit." A woman tapped Denise's shoulder from behind. Denise spun around and gave a slight gasp. "Did you misplace them, Connie?"

"I'm not sure. I am so sorry." The woman looked genuinely sorry and looked as if she was about to hyperventilate.

Denise gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "It's okay. Maybe I'll ask my husband to pick some up on his way here."

"Mum, we can do it." Nate offered. Denise turned and paused, before nodding. "Okay, but be quick. You and Alex come back soon." She gave them a shooing motion with her hand that effectively swept them out of the kitchen.

Alex scratched her hair. "So, I guess I'm going?"

"Guess so. Let's not walk. You can stay here, and I can get the bike."

"No, no. Too boring, and we have to be quick. Let's just take the two seater." She led the way, ignoring his protests of how she didn't even know how to ride. She pulled it out of the shed and smiled. "No, I can do this... I think... whatever. Let's just get this over with. Alex Russo fails at nothing."

Nate looked reluctant, but knew it was futile to argue anymore. "Fine, but if we get dirty. It's all on you."

Alex rolled her eyes as she maneuvered herself onto the seat of the bike in her dress. She waited till Nate seated himself in front of her before counting out. "3 ... 2 ... 1 ..." On the count of two, she whispered under her breath.

_We don't have time left to hike,_

_So give me the gift, the talent to bike._

And with that, it felt like the easiest thing in the world. Her legs slowly pushing back and forth as Nate steered. "Hey, you're doing it! Wow!"

"I know, I'm a natural." Alex replied, relaxing into her seat, ready for the ride to town. The trip was silent. Inwardly, Alex was feeling a tad guilty but it had to be done.

When they reached town, they quickly locked it in and rushed into the General store. Alex bit back an annoyed groan when she saw the same figure behind the counter, the random creep, Brad. He looked up from his magazine and his eyes lit up once they rested on Alex.

She ducked, shielding her eyes with one hand while grabbing Nate's arm with the other one. "Let's just get in and out, okay?

"Uh.. sure." Nate stared down at her hand, strongly gripping onto his and his cheeks grew warm. "I think they're down this aisle."

He led the way and they stopped in front of a rack that held two types of candles. "So, which ones are we going to get? We could get two of the digit ones.. or the individual ones?"

"Meh, get the digit ones. If we get a ton of individual ones it'll be a shit to blow them all out." She reached out and sifted through them all till she found a 7 and a 5. "Kay, let's go."

Alex groaned as she caught the creep behind the counter staring at her as they made their way up to the counter.

"So, I guess it's true then, Alex. You guys together." Brad observed obnoxiously, hiding his disappointment.

Alex and Nate looked puzzled and wondered what had tipped him off that day, they looked down and finally realized Alex still had her arm wrapped around Nate's.

She was caught off guard slightly, but an idea came to mind. "Yes .. Brad. We actually are. I told you yesterday so take the hint and buzz off."

Nate jerked slightly as she admitted the lie so bluntly. But all he did was smile and nod his head.

"Come one Alex, this guy? Look at him. He probably goes out to get perms with his _mommy_ all the time." Brad smirked as he eyed Nate. "He doesn't strike me as your type. He seems like such a wussy."

"My type?" Alex glared. "You don't even know me, much or less my _type_. Nate is more of a man than you will ever be. So take the obvious hint and fuck off." She finished loudly, squeezing tightly onto Nate's arm and pulling herself closer to him.

"Hey, I know how to surf. That's pretty bad ass. What can you do, curlytop?" Brad challenged Nate maliciously, shooting hateful daggers into him.

Nate was taken aback, he didn't think that Brad would speak directly to him. He wasn't prepared for that. "Uh... I don't know?"

Alex shook her head at him but turned her direction back to Brad. "He'd never tell you or brag about it because he's way better than your sorry ass, but he can play guitar and he writes some pretty meaningful songs."

Brad stared at her silently, as Nate gulped and stared at her on account of her outburst.

"Yea, he's so good at it, he makes an honest living. A million girls probably want to pounce him right now, but he, being the gentleman he is has all his attention focused on me, unlike you who probably hits on everything in a skirt that makes its way into here. He's so much better than you, that his face is on all the magazines you have to stack everyday and probably for the rest of your life. To sum it up, he's perfect and he's my man so go jerk off to someone else." Alex finished dramatically by kissing Nate quickly on the cheek.

Nate grinned. "But go jerk off after you ring in our candles."

Brad fumed as he scanned the candles and begrudgingly mumbled the price. Alex pulled the cash out of her purse and muttered, "Keep the change" before dragging Nate out of the store. "Sorry about that..." she sighed.

"So, we're dating now?" Nate let out an uneasy chuckle.

Alex's eyes widened as she jumped back, quickly letting go of his arm. "Uh, no. That was all a lie..." She had her charming smile plastered back onto her face.

"Oh, right." Nate mumbled as he bent down to start undoing the bike locks.

"Well, no, I mean.." Alex had he hands clapped behind her back and nervously shifted her weight between her feet. ".. unless you want to... uhm.. oh nevermind." She dismissed the silly idea and carefully settled herself back onto the bike.

They peddled off and Nate cleared his throat. "So, why not Brad?"

"What?"

"Why don't you like Brad? I mean.. he knows how to surf." Nate teased.

"Well, because guys like Brad only care about one thing." Alex replied quickly as if she didn't need to think.

"That would be?"

"A girl of the month. Someone to sling over their arm and show off to all their dimwit guys. A girl who caters to their every request." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Wow, you sound like a guy expert."

"I dated a guy like that, and I'm not exactly the girliest person in the world." She explained.

He nodded as they peddled back into the shed. A thought crossed Alex's mind as he locked the bike in. She hadn't used the bike riding spell the second time they rode the bike. She jumped up and swayed her arms in the air in pride.

"Are you okay?" Nate cut in as he emerged the shed.

"I know how to ride a bike!" She squealed and jumped onto him, wrapping her arms around him like a teddy bear.

"... you catch on really slow." He laughed and automatically hugged her back.

"Pft." She laughed as she stepped away, feeling a light awkwardness in the hug. "I do not catch on slow. Anyways, let's get these candles inside."

She led the way and placed the bright coloured packages of candles on the kitchen table.

"Ohmigoodness, you guys are a lifesaver." Denise grinned as she rushed forward to give them a group hug, her eyes shining brightly. She stepped back and surveyed the two quiet teens, their cheeks flushed. She winked before she went to finish some last minute preparations, leaving the both of them alone.

Alex hummed as she wandered into the living room and seated herself on the couch, making sure not to wrinkle her dress. Nate followed and the two sat in silence.

Nate coughed. "So what now?"

"I'm not sure." Alex replied slowly. Her eyes lit up just as if an idea made it's way into her head at that very moment. "I have an idea." She grabbed Nate's hand and pulled him up the stairs.

His cheek grew a light pink, Alex holding his hand and dragging him along was becoming a habit, but he didn't mind. No, not at all.

She stopped right at the end of the hallway and looked up. "Give me a boost."

Nate raised his eyebrow in confusion and looked up to find an odd little square in the ceiling and an odd rusted metal latch. Funny how he'd never noticed that before. "Are you sure? Because, you're wearing a dress and..."

"Oh, skip the maidenly modesty and give me a hand will you? Just close your eyes if you think you'll look, pervert." She retorted as she placed her hand on her hip.

"I am not a pervert!" He defended himself loudly.

They heard a door creak open and saw Frankie peek out. "You are sometimes." He stated and closed the door, trying to not be bothered.

Alex giggled. "Just do it."

"Fine." He glowered as he clamped his hands on either side of her waist and attempted to push her up towards the handle. She wasn't too heavy, he realized as she jumped down, bringing the handle with her. She jumped back in triumph as the odd square came down with a few folding ladders.

"Ooh, an attic." He said sarcastically waving his hands in the air.

"Isn't it my job to be sarcastic?" She rolled her eyes as she started climbing up into the dark space above.

Nate hesitated but followed her. Soon they were both up in the dark space. They didn't know how big it was, how tall it was, and what was inside. All they could see was black, and all they could hear was each others breathing. Nate heard a scuffle and assumed Alex had been feeling around for a string up above. In a millisecond, light engulfed the room.

He took the time to look around. Trunks and trunks of stuff were piled onto each other. Old furniture that had stains were slightly pushed aside and a bookcase of old books stood in one corner apprehensively, as if it were guarding the room. He never knew it was all up here.

"How'd you know about this place?" Nate asked in absolute awe.

"Almost every house has an attic, Nate. Yours has the same door as mine, anyways, we're not done. Come with me." She moved towards one wall that had another odd square and latch and pulled it with great trouble before being able to do it with his help. The quiet room was suddenly filled with the sound from outside, the bustling of waiters from outside. Nate poked his head curiously out, it was the roof. The flat – ish part of the roof. He jumped out and Alex followed. She smiled as she stood up and watched everything below them.

He took the time to study everything from up there. It all looked so different from another perspective. He turned around to find Alex, sitting and facing the backyard, with her legs dangling over the edge. He quietly sat down beside her.

"How'd you know about this place?" He asked, slowly turning to study her profile.

Her serious face suddenly smiled as she turned to make eye contact with him. "That's the second time you've said that." She observed then took a second to explain. "I didn't know you had access to the roof. I knew you had an attic, but that's about it. You'll never find anything if you never explore, Nathaniel." She ended and smiled.

He nodded, his eyes still glued to hers.

She bit her lip shyly.

And something came over him, he leaned forward and reached for the back of her head, slowly cupping it. He pulled her closer, closer, closer. Ever so slowly, as if time seemed to slow down. He inhaled her scent, she smelled so good. Closed his eyes and kissed her.

It was like they were trapped in their own world. He forgot there were people downstairs. He forgot they were on a roof. He forgot it was the middle of the day. And he even forgot his name. All he could remember was her, all he could hear was her giggling. And all he wished, was that this would last forever.

* * *

**I know, I know, the ending was kind of cheesy and it seemed like it didn't fit? That's cause I wrote it months later. I am so sorry guys, here you go. Hopefully there'll be just 4 chapters left. And none of them are as long as this.**

**But please, review, review, review. Am I getting rusty?**


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